Звальненьне Мар'яны Грузьдзіловіч: адказ ад брытанскага SOL
На свой ліст да брытанскага SOL наконт звальненьня Мар'яны Грузьдзіловіч атрымаў сёньня наступны адказ. Тлустым у тэксьце выдзелена мною.

Каротка галоўныя тэзісы:

- Унутраныя правілы забараняюць настаўнікам выказваць у клясе асабістыя думкі на палітычныя, рэлігійныя ці сэксуальныя тэмы. У сытуацыяй з правамі чалавека на Беларусі у гэтым дачыненьні трэба было дзейнічаць вельмі абачліва, але

- Былі нейкія іншыя факты, што ня мелі дачыненьня да інцыдэнта з дачкой афіцэра МУС і якія спрычыніліся да звальненьня

- На ўсялякі выпадак, SOL у Вялікай Брытаніі не афіліяваны з SOL у Беларусі.

Dear Alexander Č...c

Thank you for writing. I am happy to share my thoughts and information on this matter which has caused us great concern. Initially my concern was not only for Marjana Hruzdziłovič who had been teaching at SOL Minsk since it started in 1998, but also for Vanda Darmoyan, the director whom I know personally, fearing that there may have been some threat to her from the authorities. The student involved in the incident with Marjana Hruzdziłovič being, as I understand, the daughter of a very senior official in the interior Ministry.

I have been in touch with SOL Minsk and, as with most disputes, hearing both sides is important. What seems clear from both stories is that the issue of Freedom Day came up during an English lesson. The contractual agreement for all teachers in SOL Minsk is that no personal views on political, religious or sexual issues are expressed in class and all teachers are warned about this. Marijana clearly did break this rule. Of course I understand the difficulties this causes for people with a conscience and in a country where freedoms are restricted. However there were other contributory factors not related to this one event which led to her being dismissed, not for political reasons but for inadequate fulfillment of her professional duties.

The fact that her husband is a Radio Freedom journalist meant that the news of her dismissal was immediately released to the waves, but from the one perspective, and understandably causing a lot of anger and frustration.

Added to this release of information was the false linking of our name to SOL Minsk. Certainly their name and logo indicate a link but this was made only at the start because in the 90's we received many hundreds of Belarusian students and teachers on courses here in Devon and our reputation was sky high (and still is!). The agreement between us is one of friendship alone, and there is absolutely no legal, financial or administrative link at all between us - SOL Minsk is 100% independent of SOL UK. We offer the same opportunites and sponsorships to International House in Minsk with whom we have equally good relations and on a personal level. SOL offers teacher training courses to teachers of English throughout Eastern Central Europe at a no-profit price. For teachers from Belarus we even subsidise their visit further and we are committed to helping and supporting them in any way we can. Thus any damage to our reputation here would only affect those teachers in Belarus who might otherwise have come here and benefited from what we offer. Financially we would be better off if that happened because each teacher we support costs us money, but we exist in order to help so we would not be happy at all. So we hope that the open truth will reach people as widely as possible.

Here in England we feel quite helpless to do anything about the situation and having received over 130 protest e-mails this has its own frustration. I respect and feel for everyone making those protests and also for Marjana Hruzdziłovič but I do believe that SOL Minsk acted properly within the constraints they have themselves to work within. The dismissal was not about politics itself, although the rules they have set up (which could equally apply in schools in the UK) perhaps have to be more rigorously applied because of the political situation within Belarus. That I do feel sad about and we long for the change to democracy in Belarus - which will eventually come.

I hope that this clarifies our position and especially that we have absolutely no say at all in the contractual arrangements that SOL Minsk makes with its teachers. If as a journalist you can see ways of clarifiying how people see SOL UK please do as this has been an error which can only do harm to the people we are trying to help! I believe that the issue of the dismissal itself, which is controversial, may be being clarified by the only people who can, namely the management of SOL Minsk itself.

Yours sincerely

Grenville Yeo

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
SOL...Sharing One Language