Romania’s School Rulebook Changes: Head Teachers Face Discipline If They Fail to Defend the School in Court, Repeaters Regain Their Place

The rulebook that governs every school in Romania has been amended in six points, with two changes that matter directly to pupils and one that shifts the head teacher’s position when the school ends up in court. Order of the Minister of Education and Research no. 4,261/2026, signed on 26 June 2026 and published in the Official Gazette of Romania on 7 July 2026, amends the Framework Regulation on the organisation and functioning of pre-university education units, known in schools as ROFUIP and approved in August 2024 by Order no. 5,726/2024. The changes apply from publication, so they cover the whole 2026-2027 school year, and arrive in a year when education and research legislation is going through a series of digital and administrative adjustments.

The six interventions do not carry equal weight. Three concern the financial and legal responsibility of school management, two concern pupils’ rights, and one deals with staff employment records. Together they show the direction of travel: more personal accountability for the head teacher, and a few safety valves for pupils in difficult situations.

What it changes in practice

The most visible change for school management is the rewriting of article 17. For all litigation involving a state school, the head teacher, as legal representative, is obliged to ensure the right to defence and the representation of the school before the courts or other specialised bodies. This is not decorative wording: the newly added paragraph (3) states that failing to meet this obligation constitutes a disciplinary offence and is sanctioned under Pre-University Education Law no. 198/2023. In practice, a head teacher who leaves a case undefended risks a personal disciplinary sanction.

The counterpart is legal support. At the head teacher’s written request, school inspectorates provide, through their legal counsel, specialist advice: analysis of documents, explanation of legislation and procedures, risk assessment, targeted solutions and guidance in drafting applications, notices, statements of defence or other legal documents. The wording matters because it marks the limit: the inspectorate gives advice, it does not take over the case and does not represent the school in court.

On the financial side, article 21 paragraph (2) now lists, point by point, what it means for the head teacher to be the authorising officer: proposing the budget and the budget execution report to the board of administration, being answerable for staying within budget and committing and using budget appropriations only within approved limits and purposes, attracting extra-budgetary resources, managing the school’s material base, being answerable for commitment, liquidation and authorisation of expenditure, for organising and keeping accounts up to date and submitting financial statements on time, as well as for reporting and declaring amounts to fiscal and territorial labour authorities, with periodic checks that accounting records match the amounts declared. In parallel, the board of administration receives an explicit limit: it may approve financial or budgetary measures only within the approved budget.

Article 21 also gains two new administrative duties. The head teacher updates individual employment contracts by addendum whenever a contractual clause changes, and designates in writing the person responsible for entering contract data into REGES-online, the general register of employees, and specific information into the EDUSAL payroll application. In practice, responsibility for the accuracy of data in the two systems now has a name and a written decision behind it.

For pupils, two changes matter. First, those in compulsory and post-secondary education who are declared repeaters at the end of their first year of studies may re-enrol even above the number of places approved in the schooling plan. The previous wording limited re-enrolment to available places, which in oversubscribed schools could push a repeating pupil out of the school altogether. Second, pupils in grades 9 to 12 schooled in the hospital form may request a transfer during the school year and in school holidays, without meeting the grade-average condition in letters a) to d) and f) of article 141. The request must be accompanied by a medical letter from the specialist doctor attesting hospitalisation, monitoring or recovery during that school year, and by a certificate issued by the hospital school.

Pupils’ representatives were given, separately, a right exercised outside their own school: access to any school in the country, with a letter sent to the inspectorate 48 hours in advance.

What has changed compared with the previous situation

• Court defence becomes a sanctionable obligation: previously, legal representation of the school fell under the head teacher’s general duties; now failure to provide it is expressly classified as a disciplinary offence.
• The inspectorate’s legal advice is defined: the text sets out concretely what it covers, from document analysis to guidance on drafting statements of defence, and that it is provided on written request.
• The authorising officer’s duties are itemised: seven letters detailing the head teacher’s budgetary and accounting responsibilities, including the match between accounting records and declared amounts.
• The board of administration has an explicit budget limit: it may no longer approve financial measures beyond the approved budget.
• REGES-online and EDUSAL get a designated officer: through a written decision by the head teacher, not through internal practice.
• Addenda become mandatory on any clause change: employment contracts are updated whenever changes occur, not periodically.
• First-year repeaters no longer depend on the number of places: re-enrolment is possible above the schooling plan.
• Hospital-schooled pupils may transfer without a grade threshold: transfer is possible during the year and in holidays, with medical documents and a certificate from the hospital school.

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