In brief
- Theory can be taught in the mother tongue. Post-secondary schools accredited to teach in the languages of national minorities may deliver the theoretical training of future general nurses in the students’ mother tongue, provided the specialist terminology is also learned in Romanian.
- Clinical placements stay in Romanian. Clinical training, in hospitals and in the community, continues to take place in Romania and in Romanian.
- The programme does not change. The 39 units of learning outcomes, the 4,600 hours of training and the assessment standards are identical to those approved in March 2026, whatever the language of instruction.
Published: Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 924 of 4 November 2026, pages 15-16; the annex in no. 924 bis of 4 November 2026, pages 3-147
In force from: 4 November 2026, the date of publication, as the order sets no other date
Students at post-secondary nursing schools that teach in the languages of national minorities may take the theoretical part of their general nurse training in their mother tongue. Through Order no. 5.821/2026, the Ministry of Education and Research has replaced in full the professional training standard approved in March 2026, the same standard on which the curriculum for general nurses, approved by Order no. 5.582/2026, is based. The new standard runs to 145 pages, yet it differs from the old one by two paragraphs, both about the language of instruction.
Until now, the standard stated in two places that theoretical training takes place in Romanian. From 4 November 2026 that remains the rule, with one exception: schools accredited to teach in the languages of national minorities may teach the theory in the mother tongue, under the conditions laid down by law. The exception does not cover clinical placements.
What it changes in practice
Post-secondary nursing schools accredited to teach in the language of a national minority may hold the theoretical classes of the general nurse qualification in that language. The standard sets one condition, in its Introductory Note: students must also learn the specialist terminology in Romanian. The condition has a practical reason: clinical training takes place in healthcare facilities in Romania, in Romanian, under the supervision of hospital nurses.
The standard adds a guarantee of equal treatment: the content, the learning outcomes, the number of hours and the conditions under which theoretical and clinical instruction is delivered are identical, whatever the language of instruction. A graduate who studied the theory in their mother tongue obtains the same level 5 qualification, with the same 39 units of learning outcomes and the same 4,600 hours of theoretical and clinical training over three years.
Implementation of the order falls to the ministry’s directorates-general, including the Directorate-General for Minorities and Desegregation, the National Centre for the Development of Vocational and Technical Education, the school inspectorates and the vocational and technical schools. The base order still provides that the standard applies from the 2026-2027 school year, so the new version also governs the current school year.
What has changed compared with the previous situation
The annex published in Official Gazette of Romania (Monitorul Oficial) no. 163 bis of 3 March 2026 ran to 157 pages; the new one has 145. The difference in page count comes from the layout. Compared word for word, the two texts differ only on the following points:
- Introductory Note, theoretical training (page 7 of no. 924 bis). After the sentence „Formarea teoretică se desfășoară în limba română” (theoretical training takes place in Romanian), the text now allows teaching in the mother tongue at schools accredited for post-secondary education in the languages of national minorities, provided the specialist terminology is also learned in Romanian. The March version had a typo here, „limba romană”, with the missing diacritic turning „Romanian” into „Roman”; it has now been corrected.
- Introductory Note, the part on the requirements of Delegated Directive (EU) 2024/782 (page 8). The sentence „Instruirea teoretică se desfășoară în limba română” (theoretical instruction takes place in Romanian) has been supplemented with the same exception and with the statement that the programme is identical whatever the language of instruction.
- Minimum list of material resources. „Documentație medical” has become „documentație medicală” (medical documentation), a grammatical agreement correction.
Unchanged: the list of the 39 units of learning outcomes, the learning outcomes in each unit, the correspondence with the eight key competence areas in Law no. 198/2023, the correspondence with the competences in Delegated Directive (EU) 2024/782, the material resources, the assessment standards, the three-year duration and the number of hours. For clinical training the language remains Romanian, as before.
Advantages and disadvantages
What it improves
- Students who attended secondary school in their mother tongue can learn anatomy, pharmacology or medical semiology in the language they have studied in so far, without an extra language barrier.
- The standard states expressly that the hours, the content and the learning outcomes are the same, so the diploma does not become a second-class one.
- Clinical training stays in Romanian, and the requirement to learn the terminology in Romanian as well prepares students to work in hospitals and with patients who speak any language.
What remains a problem
- The two new paragraphs say the same thing in different wording: only the first requires the terminology to be learned in Romanian as well.
- The standard does not say in which language the assessments and the qualification certification exam are taken.
- The change comes after the start of the 2026-2027 school year, the first in which the standard applies, with no provision for students already enrolled.
- For two paragraphs, 145 pages were republished, and the order does not say what exactly was amended.
Practical advice
- If you head a post-secondary nursing school, check your accreditation first: the exception applies only to schools accredited to teach in the languages of national minorities, not to every school that has students who speak another language.
- In every theoretical module taught in the mother tongue, plan the points at which students also learn the Romanian terms. The standard requires it, and hospital placements are carried out in Romanian.
- If you are a student, keep your own bilingual glossary from the first year for the subjects heavy in terminology: anatomy, pharmacology, semiology and specialised nursing.
- Ask the school, in writing, in which language the module assessments and the certification exam are taken. The standard does not answer that question.
- If you employ nurses, you have no reason to treat graduates differently according to the language of instruction: the standard sets the same learning outcomes and the same number of hours.
Frequently asked questions
Can I also do the clinical placements in my mother tongue?
Which schools may teach the theory in the mother tongue?
Does the number of hours or the length of study change?
Is the diploma obtained after studying in the mother tongue the same?
When does it apply?
Have the modules or competences changed?
Editorial analysis
The order solves a real problem: the standard approved in March 2026 left no room for teaching the theory in any language other than Romanian, not even in schools accredited to teach in the languages of national minorities. The solution chosen is balanced, as it keeps clinical placements in Romanian and imposes the same programme on all students.
The way the change was made, however, is disproportionate. The two new paragraphs total 76 words, roughly 0.16% of the standard’s approximately 46,900 words, yet an annex of 145 pages was republished in full for them. Article I merely says that the annex „se modifică și se înlocuiește” (is amended and replaced), without showing what exactly was amended. A school that wants to find the difference has to compare two documents of a hundred and fifty pages each; the comparison shows that, apart from the two paragraphs, only two typos were corrected.
The two paragraphs are not worded the same way. The one on page 7 requires „asigurarea însușirii terminologiei de specialitate și în limba română” (ensuring that the specialist terminology is also learned in Romanian) and refers to schools accredited „pentru organizarea învățământului postliceal cu predare în limbile minorităților naționale” (to provide post-secondary education in the languages of national minorities). The one on page 8 lacks the terminology condition and refers to schools accredited „pentru predare în limbile minorităților naționale” (to teach in the languages of national minorities). The legal meaning is the same, since the first paragraph remains applicable, but a standard that states the same rule in two different ways invites local interpretations.
The timing matters too. Order no. 3.206/2026 provides that the standard applies from the 2026-2027 school year, and the new version was published 246 days after the old one, once the school year had already begun. The amending order does not touch the curriculum and syllabuses approved by Order no. 5.582/2026 and says nothing about students already enrolled in the first year.
What should be changed
- A targeted amendment instead of wholesale replacement. An order with two points, along the lines of „on page X, after paragraph Y, the following is inserted”, would have stated on a single page what changes, and schools would not have had to hunt for the difference across 145 pages.
- The same wording in both paragraphs. The requirement to learn the specialist terminology in Romanian should be repeated in the paragraph on page 8 as well, with the same definition of accredited schools, so that the rule does not depend on which paragraph the inspector reads.
- The language of assessment, stated expressly. One sentence on the language in which module assessments and the certification exam are taken would settle the only practical question the standard leaves open for students.
- A transitional provision. For students enrolled in September 2026, a rule stating from which module or semester teaching may switch to the mother tongue would avoid a change of language in the middle of a module.
- Teaching materials along with the right to teach. The syllabuses in Order no. 5.582/2026 and glossaries of medical terminology should also be made available in the minority languages; otherwise the exception remains on paper in schools without textbooks in the mother tongue.
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. 924 of 4 November 2026, pages 15-16; the annex in no. 924 bis of 4 November 2026, pages 3-147 16 pages PDF, 113 KB the act starts on page 15
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The other editions cited: nr. 924 bis/2026
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This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For specific situations, consult a licensed attorney or tax advisor.