More than three million children began the 2016-2017 school year in Romania on Monday, September 12.

However, some information about the education system in Romania is worrying. A total of 4,221 school buildings across the country operate without fire safety permits from the Inspectorate for Emergency Situations (ISU) and sanitary authorizations from public health departments, according to official figures from the Ministry of Education, cited by local Mediafax.

In the capital, around 500 schools don’t have fire safety permits, Bucharest mayor Gabriela Firea said.

According to the data provided by the Ministry, in Romania there are 18,746 registered educational institutions that operate in 26,733 buildings.

Local schools can still ask for financing to carry out the work needed to get the sanitary authorization until September 20, according to information from the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration (MDRAP). The authorities decided to extend the deadline as funds worth some EUR 180,000 (around 66% of the budget of the National Program for Local Development) are still available.

The 2016-2017 school year started on September 12 in Romania, and will end on June 16, 2017. It is split into two semesters: the first semester that will have 19 weeks of courses and will end on February 3, and the second one that will start on February 13 and will end on June 16.

The students will have the first 2-week holiday starting December 24.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com