Leanid Sudalenka To Teachers: Have You Visited Parents Of Kolya, Who Lives In Drazdy?

The father of three children explained why parents may not allow school inspection into the house, and not pay levies.

In an interview with Solidarity, legal inspector of the REP union, father of three sons Leanid Sudalenka answered the readers' questions.

Hanna, a mother of a schoolgirl, wonders if she has the right to refuse the visit of the class teacher and not let her into their house. According to the interlocutor, the teacher explains that they are obliged to check the conditions in which the students live and visit their homes once a year - on the basis of Decree #18.

- Can I refer to the Constitution, in which every citizen is guaranteed the inviolability of his home, and refuse to let the teacher in? - asks Hanna.

- Of course, - comments lawyer Leanid Sudalenka. - You have the right not to let anyone into your house. If the teacher has questions, let her invite the parents to school.

Teachers can use Decree #18 to visit a family of a foster child under certain conditions. For this, the child must have signs of vagrancy or a socially dangerous situation.

- If the child looks good, is cleanly dressed, fed, then what questions may be for their parents? Teachers do not have the right to go to apartments in prosperous families. Only in the families that fall into the category of socially dangerous, - says the interlocutor of Solidarity. - An incomplete family or the status of a mother, who is raising a child alone, is not, by decree #18, a basis for teachers to check the living conditions of the child.

Leanid Sudalenka recalls when his child went to first grade, his first teacher came to their home.

“My wife persuaded me to let the teacher in, although I might not have done so. We had tea, she saw the conditions in which we live, and invited me to join the board of trustees. She didn’t bother us anymore. The right of every person is not to let guests into their house,” said the human rights activist.

“I am ready to help a teacher who did not raise money from parents or refused to rig elections”

Iryna works in a kindergarten, in which the head requires teachers to collect contributions to the board of trustees from the parents under the threat of loss of bonuses. Does the teacher have the right to refuse to carry out an order of the administration?

- Teachers can refuse and will be right. I can advise them to act according to the law: not to falsify the elections, not to succumb to threats, blackmail and intimidation by the school management, if they are instructed to collect money, go around the apartments, check what my child eats, what kind of workplace they have. Why did you come to me? Have you come to visit the parents of school student Kolya, who lives in Drazdy and comes to school with security on an armored Mercedes?

My advice to teachers: if you want to live by the law, there are all possibilities for this. Want to commit crimes - this is your choice. I am ready to help a teacher who did not go check the refrigerator, did not collect money from the parents, or refused to rig the election. I am ready to go to court and help such a teacher defend their labor rights.

The human rights activist reminds: fees for the needs of a class, group or school are voluntary.

“None of the parents is obliged to put up with these extortions,” says Leanid Sudalenka. “They say, let us put double-glazed windows, so that the wind would no longer blow through the holes on the children, they ask their parents. Those for whom this amount is not valuable in the family budget will easily pay. But today, for many families, these extortions are sensitive. I emphasize: you never have to pay anything.

As soon as we agree to this, they will take from us one base fee at a time, then another base fee for the Teacher's Day, then it will be necessary to organize a New Year’s party for the kids... These extortions will have no end. The law does not oblige parents to provide material assistance to children's educational institutions.