Teachers' Espionage Ring Created In Belarus?

The authorities are stretcing out their tentacles to get into people's private lives.

Former teacher with many years of teaching experience, Vitsebsk coordinator of the steering committee for the creation of the Belarusian Christian Democracy party Tatsiana Seviarynets has told this to Charter97.org, commenting upon the fact that teachers are now obliged to collect information about the revenues of their students' parents.

- It became known yesterday, that teachers are forced to collect the information about the education and revenues of the school students' parents. What can this be connected with, and which aim can be pursued by this?

- I think the authorities are pursuing one aim here - to reveal who works where. What if someone is hiding from taxation? Some sort of an espionage ring being created. The state cannot possibly know everything, but it wants to. If teachers refuse to collect this information, it will only be good for them. And they have a right to refuse, as this is the families' private life. School should not have anything to do with private life. If anything happens, there are police, social services, which our country seems to have too many. However, the authorities have chosen such shameless method. Teachers have become hostages again. You know, as a teacher, I find this extremely revolting. The authorities are stretching out their dirty tentacles to get to Belarusians' private life. How they will present this is another matter. You know, if I were in the parents' shoes, I would never let them in, would never answer anything if my kid told me there was some questionnaire at school.

- Teachers are very often coerced to participate in the elections falsification, to forcing students into the BRYU. Can the authorities use teachers in creating the so-called parasites' database?

- Yes, this seems a very convenient way of collecting information. They get into families to sniff out some things. The authorities don't think they need to give people jobs, decent wages, that they actually pay 0,4% of what people really earn. It was like this since the times of the USSR. Now it's nothing, especially compared to the wages of the officials. I repeat, I have a dream that teachers finally wake up

and adopt a feeling of human dignity. A teacher should sound honourably, so unlike it does today. Sadly, today a teacher is an obedient servant, executor of the authorities' wildest instructions.

- What is your personal attitude to Lukashenka's decree on ''parasites''?

- It's outrageous. Instead of creating conditions for decent life, secure the Constitutional right to work and decent payment thereof, they make up absurd decrees. I absolutely disregard the decree on parasites, I consider it illegal, aimed against our citizens. The authorities should create conditions, see the situation objectively, and they say things like ''there have become twice less unemployed'. So I read this and I'm shocked. Where did they get this nonsense? I meet the unemployed every day! These are educated, clever people.

Graduates of the higher educational establishments. Many of them don't know how to feed their children, and leave the country. How can this be reacted to?

So, the authorities will never improve the life of Belarusians with such decrees. It is necessary to turn face to the people, not to the officials.