Svetlahorsk: best teacher of 2014 fired for public activism

September 1, pupils of secondary school No. 10 in Svetlahorsk got bad news about dismissal of a teacher of history and social studies, Alena Masliukova. The teacher wasn't even given the opportunity to bring her 11th form up to graduation, where she was the class teacher.

The pupils met this news with regret, and their parents gathered at the schoolmasters office, asking to to sign a contract with the teacher for at least a year to allow the 11thform to graduate with the form-master. The schoolmaster refused to do it.

The official reason for dismissal is the expiry of the labor contract. In a private conversation, a member of the school leadership said that the schoolmaster was ordered to dismiss Alena Masliukova by the district executive committee, after learning about some “destructive expressions” by the teacher from “reliable sources”.

This year, Alena Masliukova has been recognized as the best teacher ("Teacher of the Year") in the Svetlahorsk district. In the past school year, she was awarded a Diploma by the Homel Regional Department of Education.

The teacher graduated from the historical-philological faculty of the Homel State University, and before that - secondary school № 7 in Svetlahorsk. She started working at school yet before entering the university. Now she has the highest qualification category.

According to information of the Svetlahorsk district education department, fAlena Masliukova had no penalties for all the years of work. When school began conducting competitions in history, the first team of the Homel region for the national Olympiad was formed under her leadership. The teacher has received many awards and promotions for her fruitful work.

At the end of the previous school year, the school director Liudmila Drapezainformed her about dismissal due to the expiry of the labor contract, without giving any explanations. By the way, the teacher came to work at this school on invitation of the school leadership.

The teacher raised questions about the large scale of paperwork, and openly stated that teachers were ordered to do the things that had nothing to do with their work, expressed her negative attitude to subscription to state-owned newspapers.

This is not the first such case in the school No. 10 in Svetlahorsk. Several years ago, the schoolmaster tried to expel from school a pupil of the 11th grade, Maryiana Mirchuk. The girl paid interest to socio-political issues and her views didn't always coincide with the ideological requirements of the schoolmaster. Afterwards, the girl successfully graduated from an international colledge and a university.

Svetlahorsk democrats believe that the dismissal of the teacher has clear political motives. Many teachers who do not agree with the ideological demands of the authorities, are leaving the schools on their own.

photos:

1 A. Masliukova's farewell with flowers from the pupils, September 2.
2.End of the contest "Teacher of the Year" in Svetlahorsk, A. Masliukova is second from the right side. February 2, 2014 Photo: sn.by
3 End of the contest "Teacher of the Year" in Svetlahorsk. February 2, 2014 Photo: sn.by