In brief

  • Grade XI pupils in vocational education spend 10 weeks out of 37 on practical training placements with the economic operator, and those in grade X, 9 weeks. At technological high school, grade X has only 3 weeks of placements.
  • The final grades, XII full-time and XIII evening, have 29 weeks of classes and 5 of placements, that is 34 in all, because their school year ends on 4 June 2027, three weeks ahead of their schoolmates in the lower grades.
  • The order was signed on 28 August 2026 and published on 8 September 2026, a day after classes had started. Last year the equivalent order had appeared on 29 May, more than three months before school.
Act: Order of the Minister of Education and Research no. 5.225/2026 on measures for applying and correlating the curriculum plans for vocational education, for upper secondary education, technological track, and for post-secondary education with the structure of the 2026-2027 school year
Published: Official Gazette of Romania (Monitorul Oficial) no. 761 of 8 September 2026
In force from: 8 September 2026, the date of publication

A grade XI pupil at a vocational school will spend ten weeks of this year with an employer, not in the classroom. Order of the Minister of Education and Research no. 5.225/2026, published on 8 September 2026, divides up the 2026-2027 school year for every grade in vocational education, in technological high schools and in post-secondary schools: how many weeks of theory and laboratory work, how many of practical training and how many of placements with the economic operator. The figures matter for the same pupils who, at the end of the route, sit the examination certifying their professional qualification, whose schedule for 2026-2027 was published on 3 September.

The starting point is the structure of the school year, approved in February by Order of the acting Minister of Education and Research no. 3.194/2026. It gives most pupils 36 weeks of classes, between 7 September 2026 and 18 June 2027. For grades XII full-time and XIII evening, the year has 34 weeks and closes on 4 June 2027. For the technological high school grades, grade IX apart, and for those in vocational education, the year has 37 weeks and closes on 25 June 2027.

The framework curriculum plans these grades follow are old, however, some of them from 2009 and 2014, and they provide for a different number of weeks. That is where the order comes from: it changes neither the total number of hours a week nor the number of weeks of placements, but cuts into the weeks of classes, so that the old plan fits inside the new year.

The division looks like this. Grade XII full-time and grade XIII evening at technological high school: 29 weeks of theoretical and practical preparation plus 5 weeks of placements. Grade X of technological high school: 34 plus 3. Grade XI of technological high school, the Technical and the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection profiles: 32 plus 5. The same grade, the Services profile: 33 plus 4. Grade X of vocational education: 28 plus 9. Grade XI of vocational education: 27 plus 10.

Every pair adds up: all five variants in Article 2 come to exactly 37 weeks, and the two in Article 1 come to exactly 34. The figures close on the length of the school year fixed in February, with no remainder and no rounding.

The annexes with the plans themselves are not in the same edition of the Official Gazette of Romania. They appear in Official Gazette of Romania no. 761 bis, on pages 4-35, and contain 4 curriculum plans for grade XII of technological high school and 15 for grade XI of vocational education. The arithmetic at high school starts from 11 hours a week multiplied by 29 weeks, that is 319 hours, plus 5 days a week multiplied by 6 hours a day and by 5 weeks of placement, that is 150 hours. Total: 469 hours a year. For vocational education, 21 hours a week multiplied by 27 weeks means 567 hours, and the 10 weeks of placement add 300. Total: 867 hours a year.

What it changes in practice

The order applies from the date of publication, 8 September 2026, under Article 12(3) of Law no. 24/2000, which says that ministers’ orders enter into force on publication unless they provide for a later date. Article 16 of the order provides for no other.

For a parent, the practical effect is that the child’s timetable no longer keeps the same shape throughout the year. In grade XI of vocational education, for instance, the modules do not run in parallel but one after another: for the barber, hairdresser, manicurist and pedicurist qualification, the first module takes up weeks 1-7, the second weeks 8-13, the third weeks 14-27. Only after that come the 10 weeks of placement, which are done entirely with the employer and whose content is settled by the school together with the economic operator, as the locally developed curriculum the annexes speak of.

When exactly the placements fall, nobody says in the order. Article 8 leaves the period to the proposal of the school and to the approval of the school inspectorate, provided the structure of the year and the holidays are observed. The same Article 8 fixes, for graduates of the lower cycle of technological high school who take the placement route, a volume of 720 hours. At the pace used by the annexes of the order, 5 days a week of 6 hours each, those 720 hours mean 24 weeks of practice.

Two of the weeks of classes are not, in fact, weeks of classes. The „School differently” and „Green week” programmes take up 5 consecutive working days each and are scheduled between 7 September 2026 and 23 April 2027, in different teaching intervals. The order on the structure of the year requires that, at technological high school and in vocational education, practical training be organised on those days. It follows that, in grade XI of vocational education, two of the 27 weeks of theoretical and practical preparation turn into practical training. Added to the 10 weeks of placement, the pupil has 12 weeks out of 37 outside the ordinary timetable, close to a third of the year.

For evening education, the order separates the two cycles of grade XI cleanly. The lower cycle has 14 weeks and stops on 22 December 2026. The upper cycle has 18 weeks and starts only on 11 January 2027. On the calendar of the structure, the two autumn teaching intervals, 7 September to 23 October and 2 November to 22 December, cover 14 full weeks and two days more, so the date in Article 4 is not picked at random.

What has changed compared with the previous situation

Last year there was an order identical in structure, no. 4.150/2025, published in Official Gazette of Romania no. 503 of 29 May 2025. The numbers of weeks are unchanged, down to the last letter: 29 plus 5 in grade XII, 34 plus 3 in grade X of high school, 32 plus 5 and 33 plus 4 in grade XI of high school, 28 plus 9 and 27 plus 10 in vocational education. Articles 8 to 16 do not differ in substance either.

The real difference is that grade IX has disappeared. Last year’s order dealt with it in three places: at technological high school it received 34 weeks plus 3 of placements, in vocational education 32 plus 5, and special vocational education began at grade IX. In the new order, grade IX is expressly excluded from Article 2 for high school, Article 2 speaks only of grades X and XI of vocational education, Article 3 takes it out of evening education as well, and Article 7 starts special vocational education at grade X.

At high school, the explanation shows in the preamble: the reference to Order no. 3.411/2009, the old framework curriculum plan for grade IX, has been replaced by Order no. 4.350/2025, the new framework curriculum plans for full-time high school, which enter into force precisely with the 2026 grade IX cohort. For vocational education, the preamble still cites Order no. 3.152/2014, the one covering „grades IX, X and XI”, without saying what becomes of the first of them.

The second change is one of wording. Last year Article 6 required, in the „School differently” and „Green week” weeks, „specific activities”. Now it requires „practical training activities that will also pursue the purpose of the programmes”. The new wording is tighter: it no longer leaves room for any kind of activity.

The third, and the most visible one for schools, is the date. The education laws also reached the Constitutional Court on another matter, through the citizens’ legislative initiative to amend the education laws. Last year’s order came out on 29 May, more than three months before the school year opened. This one came out on 8 September, a day after the first lesson.

Advantages and disadvantages

What it improves

  • The weeks of placements are left untouched. The whole reduction falls on the hours spent in school, which observes Article 34(2) of Law no. 198/2023, under which the share of placement hours is set by the framework curriculum plan, not by annual correlation orders.
  • The figures close. Every variant in Article 2 adds up to 37 weeks, and those in Article 1 add up to 34, exactly the lengths fixed in February by the order on the structure of the year.
  • Evening education gets firm dates, not vague formulas: 22 December 2026 for the lower cycle of grade XI, 11 January 2027 for the upper cycle.
  • The annexes go down to module level, with the range of weeks and the number of hours for each, not only with the annual total.
  • The two weeks of national programmes are not lost for pupils in technological and vocational education: they become practical training.

What remains a problem

  • The order reached the Official Gazette of Romania after school had started. Head teachers drew up the timetable for 7 September without knowing how many weeks each module gets.
  • The annexes, that is the part with the figures, appear in Official Gazette of Romania no. 761 bis, a separate edition which, according to the footnote, is bought from the public relations centre on Panduri Road.
  • Grade IX of vocational education appears nowhere, although the framework curriculum plan cited in the preamble covers it, and the order on the structure of the year gives it 37 weeks with no exception.
  • Part-time technological high school is missing from the order altogether, although the order on the structure of the year treats it in the same way as evening education, in Article 1(2)(a).
  • No date for the approval of the placement period. The pupil, the family and the employer find out when the school and the inspectorate decide, at any point during the year.

Practical advice

  1. Ask the school for the week-by-week planning of the modules, not only for the weekly timetable. The annexes of the order call it „the sequencing of the modules” and show exactly which weeks each module falls in, which tells you when your child’s rhythm changes.
  2. Ask from September onwards in what period the practical training placements fall. Article 8 leaves the decision to the school, with the approval of the inspectorate, so the answer exists locally even if it is not in the order.
  3. If the pupil is in grade XII full-time or in grade XIII evening, keep in mind that his year closes on 4 June 2027, not on 25 June. He has three weeks less than his schoolmates in the lower grades, and the examinations follow immediately.
  4. Economic operators taking in grade XI pupils from vocational education should work out their capacity in good time for 10 weeks, that is 300 hours per pupil, plus the two weeks of practical training in the „School differently” and „Green week” periods.
  5. Head teachers: the two national programmes have to be scheduled in different teaching intervals and only up to 23 April 2027. Left both towards the end of the year, they no longer fit.
  6. If only Official Gazette of Romania no. 761 is circulating in the school, what is missing is precisely the curriculum plans. Ask for edition no. 761 bis as well, otherwise you have the operative part without the figures.

Frequently asked questions

How many weeks of school does my child have in 2026-2027?
It depends on the grade. In grade XII full-time and grade XIII evening of technological high school: 29 weeks of classes and 5 of placements. In grade X of technological high school: 34 and 3. In grade XI of technological high school: 32 and 5 on the Technical and Natural Resources profiles, 33 and 4 on Services. In grade X of vocational education: 28 and 9. In grade XI of vocational education: 27 and 10.
When are the practical training placements and who decides?
The order does not fix the period. Article 8 says that it is proposed by the organising school and approved by the school inspectorate, observing the structure of the year and the holidays. So the answer is to be asked for at the school.
Does the total number of hours a year go down?
Yes, wherever the old framework curriculum plan provided for more weeks than the school year has. Article 11 requires a proportional reduction of the hours for the modules that run with a constant number of hours. The number of hours a week stays unchanged, however, and so does the number of weeks of placements.
Why does grade XII have fewer weeks than grade X?
Because the school year of the final grades ends earlier, on 4 June 2027, so that pupils have time for the qualification certification examination and for the baccalaureate. The order on the structure of the year gives them 34 weeks, against 37 for the other technological and vocational grades.
What happens in the „School differently” and „Green week” weeks?
In technological high school and vocational education grades, practical training activities are organised, under Article 4(2) of the order on the structure of the year. The same activities are required at post-secondary level too, through Article 10 of the new order. The two programmes last 5 working days each and are scheduled in different teaching intervals, up to 23 April 2027.
Does the order apply to classes organised in the dual system as well?
The word „dual” does not appear in the text. Under Article 35(1) of Law no. 198/2023, dual education is a form of organising technological upper secondary and post-secondary education, so those classes follow the rules of the level they belong to, as those rules are set by order.
Where do I find the curriculum plans with hours per module?
In Annexes nos. 1 and 2, published in Official Gazette of Romania no. 761 bis of 8 September 2026, on pages 4-35. Annex 1 covers 4 grade XII qualifications of technological high school, Annex 2 covers 15 grade XI qualifications of vocational education.
Does the order apply retroactively, from 7 September?
No. It enters into force on 8 September 2026, the day of publication. Its content concerns the whole of the 2026-2027 school year, though, which had already started, so the first day of classes was organised without it.
What applies to grade IX?
At technological high school, grade IX is expressly excluded, because it comes under the new framework curriculum plans approved by Order no. 4.350/2025. For vocational education, the order says nothing about grade IX, although the preamble still cites the 2014 framework curriculum plan, which covers it. The situation is cleared up only at the level of the inspectorate.
What rules apply to evening and post-secondary education?
In evening education, apart from grade XI and grades IX and XIII, the number of weeks in the framework curriculum plan is observed. Grade XI lower cycle has 14 weeks, up to 22 December 2026, and the upper cycle 18 weeks, from 11 January 2027. At post-secondary level, both post-secondary school and school for master craftsmen, the curriculum plans in force apply, with no correlation.

Editorial analysis

The act is well built: every pair of figures closes. The five variants in Article 2 give 37 weeks, the two in Article 1 give 34, and the totals in the annexes hold up as well, 11 hours multiplied by 29 weeks plus 150 hours of placement give 469, and 21 multiplied by 27 plus 300 give 867. The cross-references work: Article 6 leads to Article 4(2) of the order on the structure of the year, which does speak about technological high school and vocational education, and Article 10 leads to paragraph (3), which does speak about post-secondary education.

The problem with this order is not in its text but in its timing. The structure of the 2026-2027 school year was published on 16 February 2026, complete with the division into 34, 35, 36 and 37 weeks. From that day it was known exactly what had to be correlated. The approval memorandum of the order bears the number VET 1.520 and the date of 11 August 2026, that is 176 days later. The signature came on 28 August, publication on 8 September, that is 204 days after the moment the problem became known and one day after the pupils had walked into their classrooms. Last year’s equivalent order, no. 4.150/2025, had appeared on 29 May, more than three months before school. The same administration, the same task, a gap of almost a hundred days in the opposite direction.

The consequence is not theoretical. Through Article 11, the order requires a proportional reduction of the hours per module. The timetable of a technological high school class is built starting precisely from the number of hours per module. Head teachers who opened the year on 7 September built the timetable on the old framework curriculum plan, and now they have to do it again. And Article 86(1) of Law no. 198/2023, invoked in the preamble of the order itself as legal basis, says that framework curriculum plans are revised periodically, but that „the amendments shall not take effect during the school year under way”. The ministry shields itself from that text through the very title of the act, which speaks about „measures for applying and correlating”, not about amending. The distinction holds up legally, but it shows why the order had to be published in May in any case, not in September: that is the only way it does not end up being argued over.

The second observation concerns coverage. Read line by line against the 2025 order, the present one has lost grade IX from three places: from Article 2 for high school, from Article 2 for vocational education and from Article 7 for special vocational education. At high school, the disappearance is explained by the preamble, where the 2009 framework curriculum plan has been replaced by the 2025 one. For vocational education nothing has changed in the preamble: Order no. 3.152/2014 continues to be cited as covering „grades IX, X and XI”, and the order on the structure of the year gives vocational grades 37 weeks with no exception for grade IX. A head teacher who has a grade IX vocational class this year cannot learn from this order how to divide up those 37 weeks, although last year he could: 32 of classes and 5 of placements.

What should be changed

  • Publication of the correlation order by 1 July. The structure of the school year appears in February, and framework curriculum plans do not change over the summer. Effect: head teachers draw up the timetable once, and economic operators plan their practice places before the holidays, not after school has started.
  • Express coverage of grade IX of vocational education. Either a paragraph giving it the division into weeks, or a mention that the 2014 framework curriculum plan applies to it unchanged. Effect: schools with grade IX vocational classes no longer depend on a local reading of an omission.
  • Inclusion of part-time technological high school. The order on the structure of the year sends it, in Article 1(2)(a), to the same 34 weeks as evening education, but the correlation order does not mention it at all. Effect: the form of education that gathers the largest number of pupils returning to the system gets a written rule.
  • A deadline for approving the placement period. For instance, 30 days from the start of classes for the school’s proposal and another 15 for the inspectorate’s approval. Effect: the family knows from October when the child is with the employer, and the economic operator draws up its roster of tutors.
  • Publication of the annexes in the same edition of the Official Gazette of Romania as the order. As things stand, the operative part appears in edition no. 761 and the figures that make it applicable in edition no. 761 bis, which is bought separately over the counter. Effect: the teacher looking for the plan of a qualification finds it where he looks for the order.
  • A single table with the number of weeks by grade, level and form of education. At the moment, the answer to a single question requires opening two ministerial orders and four framework curriculum plans issued between 2006 and 2025. Effect: the information becomes verifiable from one place, including by a parent.

Original text of the legal act

The text below is reproduced in Romanian, the official form of publication.

The full text, as published in the Official Gazette of Romania

Official Gazette of Romania no. 761 of 8 September 2026 16 pages PDF, 109 KB the act starts on page 7

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