Prime Minister and Education Minister joined teachers demanding pay raises

Prime Minister Vasile Tofan, Minister of Education and Research Dan Perciun and Minister of Finance Victoria Belous went out among the teachers protesting today in the Great National Assembly Square to demand salary increases starting September 1. Vasile Tofan stressed that investments in education are a priority for the Executive and emphasized that in order for these to be achieved, it is necessary to relaunch the economy. The Prime Minister also mentioned that the authorities will present the solutions identified for increasing teachers’ salaries at a press conference to be held today at 14:00.

The Prime Minister underlined that he chose to appear in front of teachers rather than remain in his office, because he understands the concerns and demands of the teaching staff.


“This is the first time I stand before you in a role where I speak to teachers and do not protest alongside teachers. Many times I protested with teachers and back then the bosses were hiding in their offices. One thing I can promise you is that we will not hide in our offices and we will come out every time,” declared Vasile Tofan.


The Prime Minister stressed that investments in education are a priority for the Government and noted that, in order to make it possible to increase allocations for the education sector, it is necessary to restart the economy.


“You deserve more. If we don’t invest in education, it will cost us later, and I want us to invest in education. But in order to invest in education, we have to restart the economy. And the main goal of this government is to restart the economy. If the economy performs well, things will be better for doctors, for the internal affairs sector, for roads and, first and foremost, for teachers,” explained Vasile Tofan.


The official pointed out that the goal of raising salaries is directly linked to the budgetary situation, while requests for higher wages and more investment are coming from multiple sectors.


“One thing I promised myself when I became Prime Minister is that I will not be populist and I will tell people things as they are: dear teachers, things are bad when it comes to the budget. I want to tell you this directly. And when we allocate one leu in one direction, we must understand where we take it from. With the budget we have, we face legitimate demands from farmers, from road workers, from infrastructure, from healthcare, from internal affairs. Everyone has legitimate demands,” he said.


At the same time, the Prime Minister emphasized that the Executive must find a balance and propose concrete measures to make activities more efficient in several sectors, in order to respond to employees’ demands and needs.


“I understand your anger because you say we must fight tax evasion so that we have more money. And I want to tell you that we are fighting it. And it is a major priority to fight it. You will say that we must tackle the salaries of cousins and other outrageous salaries. You know this was the first thing this Government did. We came with a series of measures to curb these salaries. You will say that we must make state-owned companies more efficient. I say it exactly as you do. And that is why we came and proposed a program to bring efficiency to state-owned companies. You will say that we must find money by making the public sector more efficient. This means that in every sector we must adopt bold measures and improve public sector efficiency. Including in education, I must say that we have some efficiency measures,” said Tofan.


The Prime Minister mentioned that at 14:00 the Government will hold a press conference at which it will present the solutions identified.


“I don’t want to stand here offering so many apologies, because you do not need apologies, you need solutions. And I want us to be a government of solutions. At 14:00 we will come with an announcement. This announcement will tell you from when salaries will be increased and what we will do to compensate, so that things are as fair as possible. Some of you will probably still be disappointed by these measures, but I want to tell you that this is the best we can do and I believe that, from the little we have, from the reserves we have, from solutions we may draw from other sectors, we have given the maximum, the maximum possible for teachers. And I must tell you that we fought very hard to come up with packages of support measures, which we will announce at 14:00,” stressed Vasile Tofan.


At the same time, the Prime Minister welcomed the efforts of the Minister of Education and Research, Dan Perciun, to identify solutions for increasing teachers’ salaries.


“I do not know of any other Minister of Education in Moldova’s history who has fought more for the rights and salaries of teachers. When we have internal meetings and everyone is fighting for the budget, he is the one who shouts the loudest. Dan asks for the most. Yesterday we had a meeting and Dan demanded the most for you,” said Vasile Tofan.


Perciun mentioned the efforts and actions undertaken by the Ministry to increase investment in the education sector, to facilitate and streamline teachers’ work and to constantly raise teaching staff salaries.


“Regarding salaries, over all these years we have had certain increases. They were not spectacular. But it is never enough and it is obviously still too little. Last year, in 2025, this is what the statistics show: we managed to reach an average salary for teaching staff that was 101% above the national average wage. And now we must continue this trend. At the Ministry of Education and in the Government, we have always endorsed the unions’ demands that salaries in education should be above the average wage in the economy,” said Perciun in his message to the protesters.


At the end of the protest, which lasted about three hours, the participants adopted a resolution that they submitted to the authorities.

The text of the resolution states that “work in education means responsibility for shaping future generations, for the development of society and for the country’s progress” and that “this work must be respected not only through statements and public recognition, but also through decent and motivating pay.”


“We consider that a decent salary is a right, not a privilege. Employees in Education and Science have always shown patience, responsibility and solidarity, accepting reforms, changes and promises regarding the improvement of working conditions and pay. The Government of the Republic of Moldova has publicly announced its intention to increase the salaries of employees in Education and Science starting September 1, 2026. This date cannot remain a mere promise. We no longer accept Education being treated as a priority only in speeches,” the resolution states.


Under these circumstances, the protest participants demanded:


	
Respecting the commitment to increase salaries in Education and Science starting September 1, 2026.
	
Ensuring a real and fair salary increase.
	
Increasing the attractiveness of the teaching profession and of a research career.
	
Respecting the principles of social partnership and genuine social dialogue.
	
Recognizing through pay the strategic importance of education and research for the development of the Republic of Moldova. Investment in Education, Science and in the people working in this field is not an expense, but an investment in the country’s future.