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Romania's School Phone Ban: What Schools Need to Know in 2026
Partly. Since September 2023, Law 198/2023 bans phone use during lessons in preschool, primary and lower secondary (gimnaziu) unless a teacher allows it for teaching. High schools set their own rules. Bills to extend the ban to breaks are before Parliament.
Law 198/2023 on pre-university education (Article 106) bans phone use during lessons in preschool, primary and gimnaziu, except for teaching with the teacher's approval. Licee may ban phones fully or partly in their internal rules. The Student Statute (August 2024) requires phones to be left in special secure spaces in the classroom. A phone used against the rules can be confiscated and returned at the end of the day, to parents for minors.
On 29 April 2026 the Senate passed an AUR bill (59 for, 9 against, 27 abstentions) letting a liceu ban phones only by a two-thirds board vote with 75% attendance, and requiring procedures for confiscation, storage and return. The Chamber of Deputies has the final vote. A separate cross-party bill from 28 deputies (May 2026) would require storage for the whole school day, breaks included. In September 2026 Raluca Turcan asked the Chamber's education committee to fast-track it.
Enforcement is weak. In September 2026 Education Minister Mihai Dimian said the law is not being respected and that teachers do not want to search students. A non-representative January 2026 survey of about 4,000 Bucharest students found only 33.3% always put their phone in the storage space, 21.9% never do, and 27.3% said there was no such space or did not know of one. The national student council opposes a stricter ban.
Whatever the rule in Romania requires, from storage spaces in gimnazii to a liceu's own internal rules, lockable pouches let students keep their own phone, locked, from the first bell to the last, so the school does not collect, store or answer for devices. Before The Internet ships lockable phone pouches and unlocking bases worldwide, including to Romania, and can print the school's name or crest on them. Schools buy them outright: one price, no subscription, lease or per-student annual licence. Send us your student numbers and any written quote you already have, and we will beat it.
Frequently asked questions
Does the current ban cover breaks?
No. Law 198/2023 covers lessons only. The cross-party bill tabled in May 2026 would extend the rule to breaks and the whole time a student is at school, but as of early October 2026 it had not been adopted.
Do the rules apply to high schools (licee)?
Not automatically. Each liceu decides through its internal rules. The Senate-passed bill would require a two-thirds board vote with at least 75% of members present for such a ban.
What can a teacher do if a student uses a phone in class?
Under current rules the phone can be confiscated and returned at the end of the school day, to the parent or guardian if the student is a minor.
Related reading
School phone bans by country · Phone-free schools toolkit · How to roll out phone pouches in a school
Written by the team at Before The Internet, a Toronto-based phone-free company that rents lockable phone pouches for events across North America and sells them to schools and venues worldwide, shipping purchases to any country.
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