’Level of Political Conscience’ Is Measured in Some Schools of Hrodna

18.04.2006.

According to RFE/RL

In some schools of Hrodna pupils were asked to evaluate their ‘acceptance of the ideology of the Belarusian state’ or ‘level of ideological and political conscience’ with marks from zero to three. Then parents and teachers were to give such marks to the children, after which the average was to have been counted and introduced into the ‘individual charters of the level of breeding’. These charters also include such points as hygiene, health, physical exercises, but the first points are ‘respect to the Constitution and law-abidance’ and ‘ability to resist negative tendencies’ (this mystical point is not explained). This paper was provided to RFE/RL by the parents who consider this charter as forcing pupils to self-delation concerning their political loyalty.

The human rights activist Siarhei Marchyk commented: ‘I perceive it as a powerful means of political pressurization of parents and children and indirect search for disloyal parents, because the people who disagree to it will express their indignation or put low marks to their children’. Mr Malchyk thinks the authorities know the real number of the people who voted against Lukashenka. That’s why the authorities are looking for new means to control the people and make them afraid of alternate thinking. According to him, these means include the ‘individual charters’.

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