Romanian authorities start crusade against corruption in education, after teacher recorded while asking for expensive Christmas gifts

A recent media campaign revealing the illegal practice of raising funds for school and class gifts has resulted in the country's Education Ministry deciding to create an ethics code for the system. The issue was recently thrust into the public spotlight, by a leaked video of a teacher asking parents for money and holiday gifts.

The code will aim to fight corruption in schools, with teachers who do not respect it to be sanctioned, and unable to work as teachers ever again.

The Ministry has started an official “crusade' against corruption in education, which should also help protect honest teachers, whose image has been tarnished by the corrupt.

With around 300 online notifications of corruption in education so far, the ministry has decided to start a public campaign against the illegal practices in schools. One of the most recent incidents, which ballooned into media a full blown media scandal, was submitted by the parents of a child who studies at school number 10 'Maria Rosetti' in Bucharest. Just before Christmas last year, the parents submitted to the media a recording of a teacher”, Dana Blandu, asking for money for Christmas presents for school staff. The teacher's behaviour and the insults to the parents placed the recording at the core of a media debate, as the teacher had mentioned the Balkan custom of giving gifts, not just symbolic gifts, but rather more expensive gifts. Among other, she said: “Not even when I was teaching a class full of gipsies, have I seen as poor presents.” Following the scandal, the teacher was fired, and the school notified the court, whole prosecutors are investigating whether the teacher had received bribes. The school's director was also fired. Around half of the parents of children in Blandu's class had asked for her replacement. Other notifications involved teachers asking parents to collect money for various reasons, or buy certain books or brochures for class, or the so called 'class fund'. In another case, a parent notified the authorities of a teacher's practice to punish children by creating a special place in the class next to a wall, where they had to hit the wall with their head. At least two children were subject to this punishment, according to the notification. editor@romania-insider.com