Seven of the 24 ministers of education who were in Romania after the December 1989 revolution were suspected of plagiarism. Before Sorin Kimpeanu, only Yoan Mang resigned after being accused of plagiarism, although he claims that he did not plagiarize and that the authors of some articles would mention his name without his knowledge because he was their boss and “that’s how it was used in education back then”. .

Sorin Kimpeanu also pleaded not guilty to plagiarism in a brief statement this evening in which he announced his resignation citing only “scandal” and “dignity”.

Chronology of the scandal:

Monday, September 25: Emilia Serkan reveals information at PressOne

Journalist Emilia Sherkan published in PressOne that the Minister of Education, Sorin Ciempeanu, plagiarized – in a specialized course – 13 chapters that had previously been published several times under the signature of two other professors from the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine in Bucharest (USAMV-B). .

The two professors signed off on 13 chapters plagiarized by Kimpean in 2006 in four other previous editions of the course, dated 1987, 1990, 1993 and 2000. Plagiarism is only one aspect of the problem identified in the scientific work carried out by Minister Kimpeanu.

He fraudulently appropriated the authorship of 13 chapters, pretending to be the author of the corresponding chapters of the university course. The name of the original authors was replaced with that of the current education minister in the 2006 edition in which we found the plagiarism, as well as in a later 2009 version published in the same form, the source said.

The defiant answer of the Minister of Education into the question about the accusation of plagiarism:

“The main objective is to block education laws,” the minister said on Monday when asked about the plagiarism allegations. He made no further mention of the PressOne expose.

Tuesday, September 27: Kimpeanu, the impudent

Education Minister Sorin Kimpeanu continued to defiantly respond to questions related to the plagiarism allegations leveled against him, claiming that those making them “are kind of ignorant in the field of education” and that the teacher of the practicals on which he put his signature “made very professionally, in compliance with all rules, in the interests of students.”

He also said that such accusations were made by those who “want to block education laws at all costs”, whom he described as “pure illiterates”.

The University of Bucharest responds:

The University of Bucharest responded on Tuesday to accusations of plagiarism leveled at Education Minister Sorin Cimpeanu, saying a “serious analysis without any pressure” was needed, which should be done “immediately by the competent institutions within the university involved and the responsible institutions of the state”.

Wednesday, September 28: Sherkan dismantles the defense of Kimpean / Reaction

Several representatives of civil society protested on Wednesday morning outside the Ministry of Education for the second day in a row, demanding the resignation of Sorin Kimpeanu, accused of plagiarism. A similar protest took place a day ago under the Ministry of Education.

Minister of Education Sorin Kimpeanu Photo: Agerpres

How Kimpeanu defended himself after three days of defiant and ironic answers:

Three days after the outbreak of the plagiarism scandal, during which he gave ironic and defiant answers, the Minister of Education Sorin Kimpeanu publishes on his Facebook page an “instructive testimony” – a laudatory document signed by Ioan Plesha, one of the university professors whose name he blames the substitution on the course.

As journalist Emilia Serkan explains:

Emilia Serkan says on Facebook that the letter published by the Minister of Education, allegedly written by Professor Ioan Pleša, his former academic supervisor, shows the desperation of Kimpeanu to face the accusations of plagiarism and especially the appropriation of the authorship of the 13 chapters.

• Only education minister to resign after plagiarism allegations ‘advice’ to Sorin Kimpeanu: ‘Resignation would be most elegant’

List of 7 ministers of education accused of plagiarism

• Ekaterina Andronescu, four times Minister of Education
• Pavel Nestase, former Rector of ASE and Minister of Education from January to June 2017
• Valentyn Popa, Minister of Education from January to September 2018
• Liviu Pop – in 2018, journalist Emilia Serkan participated in a public meeting at the National College of Internal Affairs (CNAI) of the Police Academy, where Liviu Pop presented his doctoral thesis. The journalist stated before the commission that Pop engaged in plagiarism in his work. In the end, the commission did not award him the title of doctor, writes scoala9.ro.
• Mihai Gardeu, Minister of Education from November 2005 to April 2007
• Yoan Mang – Minister of Education for only eight days, in May 2012, in the Ponta government. He resigned due to allegations of plagiarism.
• Sorin Kimpeanu – acting Minister of Education

Thursday – September 28 – Emilia Serkan returns with new explanations

Emilia Serkan after Sorin Kimpeanu tried again to dismiss plagiarism accusations: “They don’t have an ISBN, but you see, they have value”

“They don’t have an ISBN, but as you can see, they have a price,” replies Emilia Sherkan on her Facebook page, the same one who revealed Monday in an article on PressOne that Sorin Kimpeanu plagiarized in 2006 as a university. a student, and in 2022, as a minister, he tries to self-amnesty his plagiarism.

Kimpeanu resigns:

Education Minister Sorin Kimpeanu, accused of plagiarism, announced his resignation on Thursday evening. “On my own initiative, I decided to resign from the post of Minister of Education. It was a chance and an honor for me to start a fundamental reform of the national education system,” Kimpeanu wrote on his Facebook page.