Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “With yet another decree, the regime obliged all private schools and kindergartens in Belarus to obtain a license. But most of them had been shut down before the law was adopted. The fact that the new rules do not affect the operation of public schools, but impose unfeasible conditions on private initiatives, indicates only one thing: the regime is trying to clean up every area in the education system it could not control.
More and more often we see the police visiting schools with their army lessons, giving children weapons in their hands instead of textbooks, teaching them to march and keep the line as if they are military. One gets the impression that the purpose of the school is to prepare children for war instead of life in a peaceful country and work in a flourishing economy. Ideology increasingly displaces science, and on weekends students are encouraged to harvest crops in the fields instead of attending English classes or going to a museum.
From a house of knowledge, school has become an army camp. But our children are not soldiers.
Dear parents, you and I know that this type of “education” will not help children decide their future. It will not help them succeed in their chosen field, let alone bring them happiness. So today, it is us parents who need to make sure that our children discover a world of opportunity, not a world of subjugation.
I see that, contrary to the propaganda, our children are growing up to be intelligent, independent and free people. Thanks to you, dear mothers and fathers. Thanks to you, dear honest teachers. I admire everyone who treats work with children responsibly. And we will have to work even harder in the months ahead”.
