Teachers from Pervomaisk have complained to the ombudsman that they are being forced to clean the streets
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- Alina KvitkoReporter
Teachers in Pervomaisk have complained to the ombudswoman about being forced to clean the streets and whitewash trees. Photo: Iryna Voloshyna, AI-generatedIn Pervomaisk, staff at schools and nurseries were made to take part in municipal «voluntary work days» and whitewashing trees. Following complaints from education workers, Ombudswoman Nadiia Leshchyk contacted the city authorities and raised concerns about a possible breach of labour rights.
She wrote about this on her Facebook page.
According to her, telephone records obtained from the Education Department of Pervomaisk City Council confirm that education staff were indeed involved in such work. In particular, in documents dated 26 March and 6 April, heads of institutions were asked to provide lists of staff who would take part in cleaning up community areas and whitewashing trees.
The memos also specified the meeting point and time for participants, as well as a list of items required to carry out the work.
«Staff at educational institutions in Pervomaisk noted that this was a ‘request’ that could not be refused. This indicates that heads and staff were coerced into taking part in these community improvement activities,» wrote Nadiia Leshchyk.
Screenshot of a text message from Pervomaisk City CouncilNadiia Leshchyk also analysed the decision by the Executive Committee of Pervomaisk City Council to hold a two-month spring campaign for the improvement and cleaning of the community’s territory. The document assigned the Department of Education the responsibility for cleaning the streets, the town park and the riverbank areas, as well as whitewashing trees, kerbs and flower beds.
In the opinion of the education ombudswoman, such tasks do not fall within the remit of education authorities, and forcing staff to carry them out may constitute a violation of employees’ labour rights and the principle of autonomy of educational institutions.
«Unfortunately, the education authority is failing to uphold the rights of staff at educational institutions; instead, it is carrying out unlawful instructions and infringing upon the rights of both the heads and staff of these institutions. I would like to emphasise that it is unacceptable to compel staff at educational institutions to take part in activities aimed at improving local communities, as this is not part of their job description. The above-mentioned requirements violate not only the right to academic freedom and the autonomy of educational institutions, but also other rights of those involved in the educational process,» she noted.
Nadiia Leshchyk reported that she had already sent a letter to the chair of the Pervomaisk City Council demanding that the rights of those involved in the educational process, the autonomy of educational institutions and labour legislation be respected. As of the time of publication, she had not received a response to her letter.
The ombudswoman also urged education workers not to remain silent about such incidents and to seek protection of their rights.
It should be noted that in recent months, the education sector in Pervomaisk has repeatedly been at the centre of public debate. In February, the head of the education department, Svitlana Tkachuk, told NikVesti that some of the generators in schools and nurseries remained unconnected due to a lack of funds for project documentation and technical installation. At the same time, parents and teachers complained about the low temperatures inside educational establishments.
By May, it had emerged that the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) had allocated 1.4 million hryvnias to connect the generators in Pervomaisk’s schools. That same month, city councillors reallocated 3.3 million hryvnias from the education department’s budget to the municipal utility company «Zhytlo», which sparked a debate during the council session. In June, a further 1.5 million hryvnias were reallocated from the education department to settle the debts of the «Zhytlo» municipal enterprise.
At the same time, several public conflicts have recently arisen between the Pervomaisk authorities and Maksym Dyrdin. In particular, in June, the councillor accused the city authorities of derailing a project to build a solar power station for the water utility, worth 15 million euros. The city council rejected these accusations and stated that the proposed cooperation scheme could have posed significant financial risks to the community.
