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A book was born after the strike.
Psychological terror, fear of losing a job and anxiety for loved ones, all this had to be experienced by the teachers who not only declared the strike last year, but also dared to “occupy” the ministry facilities because otherwise the authorities did not offer to listen to them.
L. Bručkienė, a resident of Klaip resda, was one of them. This civic experience of hers became a documentary testimony: the book “In 5 minutes of prestige”, which was presented to the public just before the new school year.
The Klaipėda woman was very active in the teachers’ strike, where she represented the teachers in the capital’s port city and refused to leave the ministry premises for three weeks until the government began negotiations with them.
Soon, the experience of the rebellious teacher and the adventures of the educational reforms were left in a book that will probably be of interest not only to her colleagues but also to her students.
“There are relevant things for them there, because they themselves participated, already from 12th and then from 11th grade, now graduates. They are also written about. Then the children, their parents and the school community supported us a lot, constantly sending us messages , videos with wishes. “, recalled L. Bručkienė.
Although it was not very convenient for the school administration to have a rebel among it, according to L. Bručkienė, she also felt strong support from the gymnasium administration.
Power simulator traps
“Besides Five Minutes Prestigious” is a book about the teaching profession, which was also solemnly announced by President Dalia Grybauskaitė as an idea for Lithuania No. 1.
But the question is, how long will those five minutes take?
Not only L. Bručkienė would like to hear the answer.
“I don’t know when the teaching profession will become prestigious. There are a lot of good doctors, but there are some we don’t want to go to. There are a lot of good journalists, but there are some who can’t write the word. It’s the same in all other professions. “The most talented would not only study for a scholarship, but would later come to work, and the right conditions for that job must be created. Because in this case, awarding a scholarship is more of an imitation, but not a real step, “the teacher is convinced.
For the profession to be prestigious, working conditions are needed and, according to L. Bručkienė, they should become state policy.
First of all, a lot of useless institutions under the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports, which only “absorb” projects and money, should be abandoned, but the benefits of this are negligible.
Lucha: Teachers did not leave the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports for three weeks last year when the government ignored their legitimate demands. / Photo by Irmantas Gelūnas / Photobank
Teachers are not surprised that most of those in power are used to imitating work, and part of society swallows that imitation hook.
“I think this government particularly liked copycats. Do you remember what their representatives said before the pandemic? That everything was ready. They assured the public that we had everything, that everything would be enough. And then what turned out? Same for schools. Teachers said “Everything will be fine if everything is paid for. And then what? The government is just creating the illusion that everything is fine, “said L. Bručkienė.
Could have ended sadder
And those political illusionists, according to the interlocutor, still hope that their fictions and nonsense will not be deciphered.
For this reason, according to the teacher, it was not for nothing that freedom of expression was attacked almost openly in order to control the media and facilitate the government to create the desired illusion for society.
“So, in many respects, the ‘occupation’ of the ministry paid off. The public sector realized the need to support each other, even though we experienced attempts to oppose each other. and initially highly biased information was presented to the public, but there was a turning point, “recalls L. Bručkienė.
If we had not resisted and ruined it, we would hardly have started much sadder processes in Lithuania.
Then, according to L. Bručkienė, social networks, which became an advertising tool, helped a lot.
Braver writing and speaking teachers emerged.
“When the educational guidelines were updated and imitated again, the people who worked on those guidelines only confirmed their new lies when their own suggestions and comments were not taken into account. The time began when these imitations of the government were made public. If it were not for the public and not for the journalists during the occupation of the ministry, everything could have ended much sadder for us ”, the Klaipėda neighbor is convinced.
Protected against violence
Next, the teachers sought negotiations guaranteed by the Labor Code.
And they were absent for almost three weeks, because it was the avoidance of negotiations that sparked the conflict that led the teachers to remain in the ministry last December.
When the prime minister fired the three ministers (I think he sought to quell the scandal with a scandal) and told us that there would be no negotiations and told us to get out, we awaited the forced eviction. And just for publicity we avoid extremely unpleasant things. Although the pressure was on at all times. From the beginning they took out all the sofas, they turned off the internet connection, they closed the bathrooms, they didn’t let us leave the building for a week, they threatened not to bring food and medicine? There were always hints that we could do violence, they talked about riot squads, water cannons, “said L. Bručkienė.
According to the professor, journalists at the time essentially protected striking professors from perceived violence by statesmen.
“There was a lot of intimidation and psychological blackmail. The pressure was exerted in other ways. Blackening and slanderous comments appeared on the Internet after the articles, information was collected about our private lives. Not everyone was educated like that. We were determined to be fired.” Yes We would not have gotten up and broke, we would hardly have started much sadder processes in Lithuania. Because there was such an impression that they tried to fight us so that no one would dare to attack. So our struggle was based on principles, “said teacher L. Bručkienė.
Don’t you need decent ministers?
The teacher also did not remember the most beautiful gesture of Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis when he asked to transport the students to other schools or accept new teachers to replace the strikers.
After all, it is a violation of the Labor Code, in addition to not organizing negotiations with striking workers, to accept others in their places. They violated the law totally and publicly. And I am very happy that the residents of Klaipeda were the first to object, they were the first to write a letter to S. Skvernelis. , where he stated that he would not organize the educational process in the striking schools, and demanded that the conflict be resolved at the state level, “recalled L. Bručkienė.
Something has been fixed, something is being imitated again, but it turns out that there was a person in the government whom the striking teachers trusted and still look upon with respect.
This is Rokas Masiulis, who was then Acting Minister of Education, Science and Sports.
“Without a doubt, Masiulis was the best minister, although only temporary. When he arrived, the situation was almost stagnant and he had to resolve it. He had to reconcile a certain task that the government gave him with the other side of the conflict. Then we saw how he works as he solves problems and communicates. The only problem is that it was an inconvenience for the Government, because it is too intelligent and too decent “, is convinced L. Bručkienė.
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