The Federation of Transport Operators announced that operators in several counties, such as Prahova, Iași or Suceava, have not received payment since September for transporting children and accused the Ministry of Education of changing the payment scheme without consulting those involved.

The Students' Association of Constanța, the Students' Association of Bucharest and Ilfov and the Students' Association of Vâlcea criticize Minister Ligia Deca's lack of interest in students after protesting for 2 hours in front of the Ministry.

"Students requested a meeting with the minister, but she was not present in the institution, she did not want to communicate with the students about the problems generated by the government decision that was supposed to correct the costly mistakes that students are forced to pay. They were redirected to the minister's intermediaries" - the student associations said in a statement.

"I thought the minister would come to discuss with us, commuting students, about the problems we have been facing since the beginning of the school year, in our desire to get to school. I think she was not at work; otherwise, I cannot explain why she did not want to listen to us. Ministry representatives told us it is not their duty to solve the problems raised by us, that our association from Constanța only comes to complain and that we should be concerned about something other than transportation. We told them that the law states that all students have free transportation, not just commuters, and Ioana Lazăr, the general secretary of the Ministry of Education, told us that we want to go on vacation, that's why we ask the law to be respected. I am deeply disappointed, both because of the minister's absence and the statements of her intermediaries, who told us that we had too high expectations when we asked to speak with Ligia Deca. We just want to get to school, nothing more." - Lorena Drăgușin, AEC President.

"The minister continues to defy students, even though they come to the Ministry's door and request a dialogue for the highest quality education. Ministry representatives evade responsibilities, responding to any of our demands with the phrase, 'It is not the Ministry of Education's responsibility', which is false according to the law. Empty promises continue to appear, as usual, trying to deflect from the subject and justify the illegal decisions they make every day. I look forward to the day when the minister will assume the position she holds, for a short time, we hope, and will manage to confront the primary beneficiaries of education. It seems unacceptable how the Minister of Education, who should take care of the proper functioning of the educational system, refuses to discuss with students and sends intermediaries to avoid facing the real problems of this system." - Ioana Stamatin, AEC Vice President.

"I thought we would get a little clarity today; I actually had hope that we would have an open discussion with Ligia Deca. We brought up the issue of lump sums awarded for areas where there is no approved public transport on those routes; we asked the Ministry to find a solution for students who are forced to hitchhike, drive their own cars or use taxis. The response was hopeless - ‘It's not our concern'". So, we can expect incidents like the one in Caracal to continue on the list of tragedies we face because we do not truly have safe and free transportation for Romanian students. We were told that in February, free transportation will be provided for all counties, namely for students. But what happens until then? Can all students afford to take out those sums from their pockets? Can we still trust the proposals outlined by the Ministry?" - Iulia Băiașu - President of the Vâlcea Students' Association.