"They No Longer Trust 90% Of Teachers To Count Ballots"

An open letter from a Belarusian teacher.

The NEXTA telegram-channel has published a letter of a Belarusian teacher:

- I've only been working at the school for two years, - the young Belarusian teacher says. - The first thing I heard was: forget all your principles! If you want to work as a teacher, be kind to follow the orders. Even the stupid and absurd ones. If you dare to resent it, your frightened colleagues will never support you. That's why all the "revolts" end with discussing them in whisper in laboratories or, as we say, "behind the closet".

The wage of a young teacher in Minsk is only Br350. Do you want more? Work not just the straight time, but the one and a half or two times, in fact - spend the night at school. In the case of being in charge of the classroom management, you will have to forget about sleep and personal life at all. At that you also have to prepare for lessons, grade papers at home - this time is not paid at all.

Against the background of small salaries, the money extortion is particularly outrageous. The subscription to Nastaunitskaya Gazeta (Br90 a year), contributions to the Red Cross (from Br10 and above), collection of money for "voluntary Saturday work"... And also – constant taking part in mob scenes. The presence of at least some public at events and sports competitions is almost always the merit of teachers and schoolchildren. The bosses do not care about the weather conditions in the street. Both in +32 and -25 - the teacher has an order! And the orders are not discussed. When you turn on the TV and see a parade or a sporting event, pay attention to people's clothes and to the share of female staff. The "schoolmarm" is always seen a mile off.

If you like working at school and teaching children - you have to put up with all this. The contract system allows to get rid of unwanted ones easily and simply. And the collective rebellion will end with the fact that everyone will be fired. And often you don't want to wrong-foot the director - there are also good people among them.

The topic that everyone has been discussing for a long time is teachers and elections. I can say with a clear conscience that they no longer trust 90 percent of teachers to count ballots. Teachers only organize these very elections - prepare the school for the arrival of "concerned citizens". And the fraud is organized by the commissions of officials coming to the polling stations in schools.

In 2018, I was ordered to be an "observer" myself. The members of the commission were laughing openly and saying to each other: "Well, do you think we will be paid a lot for election fraud?" When we leave home in the evening, the ballot box is sealed. And in the morning, there are no seals. The commission simply slings muck at us for any comments. If you report it, you get problems at work.

And finally, a few words about our education. Everyone thinks that we have bad teachers. In fact, it is not so. There are a lot of talented teachers, but they quickly run away from schools. Or they are shut up... by the parents! Yes, yes, you've heard right. Today, parents allow themselves to command the teacher. It's okay to beg for marks. If the teacher does not do bidding, the parent starts complaining to all possible authorities. And the teacher has to make concessions. I can say from my experience - the real knowledge of children now, on average, is three points lower than we put them in order not to have problems.

Communicating with children, I hear shocking things: starting from the sixth grade they dream of leaving Belarus "because there is no future here." And in order for it to appear, we, the adults, need to stop being afraid and consolidate. Only together we will win.

Long Live Belarus!