The Ministry of Education announces social grants with European support for 40,000 students from vulnerable backgrounds / The reaction of student organizations
Daniel David Photo: Lucian Alecu / Shutterstock Editorial / Profimedia
The Ministry of Education announced on Wednesday that the European Commission has approved an additional funding of 60 million euros, requested through the Education and Employment Program (PEO), and the money will “ensure the payment of social grants for approximately 40,000 students from vulnerable backgrounds in 2026”.
The institution estimates that the first payments will be made “in February at the latest”.
“This amount will ensure the payment of social scholarships for approximately 40,000 students from vulnerable backgrounds in 2026. The estimate is that the first payments will be made no later than February 2026. In this way, the scholarship fund in the new year will be nominally and in practice close to the years 2024 and 2025 (after resizing) and approximately 35% higher than in 2023, with access to both budget students and fee-paying students,” the release states.
The Ministry of Education claims that the measure “will contribute to increasing the quality of the education act in the university area”, and Minister Daniel David asked “subordinate units to prepare the implementation procedures, so that the first payment will be made no later than February 2026 (for the month of January)”.
“Following the dialogue with the Ministry of Investments and European Projects (MIPE) and the European Commission, it was agreed, at the request of the Ministry of Education and Research, to co-finance these social rights from the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+). This measure represents a decisive step in the implementation of the vision of the Ministry of Education and Research to facilitate access to university studies and reduce the risk of dropping out of school for economic reasons, an important thing in the conditions of the fiscal-budgetary crisis Romania is going through”, it is also stated in the communique.
The reaction of student organizations
After the announcement by the Ministry of Education, the National Alliance of Student Organizations in Romania (ANSOR) sent a statement in which it “draws the attention of the Government of Romania (…) that this amount does not replace the responsibility to allocate, through the State Budget Law for 2026, a scholarship and social protection fund anchored to the real needs of students”.
ANOSR believes that the announcement made by the Ministry of Education “represents a significant but late result and in no way replaces the state's responsibility to support students during their academic career, allocating through the State Budget Law for the year 2026 a fund correlated with the students' current needs”.
“ANOSR launched on December 11 a position related to the monthly expenses of a student, which in 2025 will reach over 1,700 lei. ANOSR draws the attention of the Romanian Government not to neglect the obligation to ensure an accessible and fair education for all young people, allocating the necessary amounts to the scholarship fund”, the organization concluded.
