Russia’s teachers in crisis – VG

–

–

–

previous

in this

full screen

–

His regime-critical post on Instagram, on the other hand, remained. It spread quickly on social media.

Manafly says the school where he worked ordered him to delete the post.

But he refused, as he had refused to teach the Power Point presentation.

The next day he received a letter stating that he would be removed from the position until the situation is clarified.

–

– It was horrible, because what kind of immoral thing was it I had done? I had published a private opinion on Instagram, it was not even about my job, Manafly says to VG.

Also read: Such is the hunt for «traitors»

The 28-year-old fled the country. He is now with some relatives in the United States.

– It’s pretty tough to lose everything in one day. But here I can live my life, here I feel free.

–

Manafly is by far the only Russian teacher who is in bad weather.

Across Russia, teachers and university lecturers who have been critical of the war have been fired, fined and even reported to the police, writes the independent website OVD info.

Read about them here:

Being monitored by the parents

One who is still in Russia is a 29-year-old history teacher with whom VG has had contact.

He has eight years of experience as a teacher, the last five of them in Moscow. Before that he was a teacher in the “province”, ie outside the largest cities.

The 29-year-old is in a difficult situation.

He does not support the war in Ukraine. Now he is threatened with dismissal at the school where he works, he tells VG.

– What is the reason?

– The principal gives me no justification. He’s just “disappointed” with me.

The man says that he does not conduct any kind of propaganda for his views in teaching. On the other hand, he has profiled himself as a war opponent on social media.

The 29-year-old does not want to be identified, because it could create more trouble with the authorities.

– Some parents follow closely what I express on social media.

– I speak as a historian

– I have never said clearly that I support the opposition, but I understand that it can be interpreted as such, the man says.

– So you do not agitate?

– No, I only put things in historical context with, for example, the Chechnya wars and Afghanistan. And the problem is, parents do not like it. The principal summoned me for an interview. I reckon it was due to inquiries from parents. I told the principal that I did not feel “guilty”. I speak as a historian in class.

Russian editor: – Must write about our killed soldiers

– Are the other teachers “patriotic” and support the war?

– When I talk to them, they are not. And even though the schools have been told to run a “patriotic” teaching, so I have the impression that it is largely up to the school management, he answers.

The 29-year-old says that the schools are offered propaganda lessons online with profiles such as the Foreign Ministry’s press spokeswoman Maria Zakharova and Margarita Simonjan, the most important media manager in Russia. Here the students get the opportunity to ask them directly.

Will return to Soviet school system

In Russia, there is now a debate about whether the country should change its entire education system – away from the Bologna system, which the rest of Europe uses, back to a domestic education model.

– I think it is right to return to the best domestic education model in the world. More literature, film and television programs with historical content need to be created. This will help counter Western attempts to influence public opinion in Russia, Nikolai Patrushev, the powerful secretary of Russia’s Security Council, told the Russian newspaper Arguments and facts.

He is supported by the first deputy chair of the Duma’s education committee, Oleg Smolin, who believes that the European system has made the quality of education worse, writes Gazeta.ru.

–

This causes teacher Kamran Manafly to rage.

– The whole meaning of education is to increase students’ ability to think critically, but the way it is now, the opposite is happening. The school system in Russia is in a major crisis. If it is to get better, we must get a new government and new principals who are not part of this system, he says.

–

Affected by others than the school

But at the same time as education is becoming increasingly political, there are other channels of information that provide hope for Russia’s youth.

– It is not from the teachers that the students get the greatest influence. It’s from the media, bloggers and others. They probably have a greater influence than us teachers, says the 29-year-old teacher VG has spoken to.

Manafly agrees with this.

– Today’s young people in Russia have a strongly developed ability for critical thinking. They ridicule the propaganda, because they have access to independent information, via Telegram channels. They know what is going on in Ukraine and they are shocked.

– Can the rising generation break with the regime?

– They are the only hope we have. But many of them will unfortunately become part of the system in the future, when they apply for jobs in their 20s, Manafly answers.

PS! The board of the international teachers ‘organization Education International, where Norwegian Haldis Holst is deputy general, is considering expelling the Russian teachers’ organization ESEUR. The background is the strong support for the war in Ukraine that ESEUR has published on its website. It reports Educational news.

–