Because of age or the Russian language? An 82-year-old college teacher was fired in Odesa
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In Odesa, an 82-year-old teacher of music and art history was “fired” from the theater and art college. The reason was a complaint from a student who claimed that the teacher gave lectures in Russian and suggested that students listen to Russian composers Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Serhii Rachmaninov. This was reported by the teacher’s granddaughter Ksenia Prokonova. The college claims that the teacher herself wrote the resignation letter. The granddaughter of an elderly woman says that her grandmother was forced to write a statement, and the reason was not the Russian language, but age and hostile relations with the management of the educational institution. “Ukrainian Pravda. Life” spoke with representatives of the educational institution and the teacher’s granddaughter. What happened The Odesa theater and art college said that the teacher was fired at her own will, as she herself admitted that she could not perform her duties. Photo: karenr/Depositphotos “Unfortunately, the teacher did not cope with her work, we had repeated complaints about her from students, and we had more than one conversation with her, giving her a chance to correct her work,” the college says. The institution emphasized that the woman admitted her inability to “fulfill the demands voiced to her.” In particular, it is said that the teacher “allowed herself a gross violation of the current language and educational legislation by conducting pairs in Russian.” “Today, she cannot teach in Ukrainian as it should. The educational process at the college is conducted in Ukrainian, and we take it very seriously. Moreover, such a violation is also deeply unethical in relation to students, many of whom are immigrants, someone even now is in the temporarily occupied territories, they have a real trauma from Russian aggression in Ukraine, and it just hurts to hear the Russian language,” the educational institution says. The college also said that the teacher showed students programs from the Russian channel “Kultura”, despite the fact that educational institutions received recommendations on the need to abandon Russian sources in the educational process. “Teachers have repeatedly reported this information and asked to correct it, but she continued to do so, ignoring the remarks given to her. Unfortunately, the college administration has already accumulated too many remarks about the work of this teacher, which she was unable to correct,” the college says. The institution noted that it is humanly understandable that the elderly teacher is upset, but reminded that students must get a quality education, and the college must adhere to educational standards and laws. What the teacher’s granddaughter says The teacher’s granddaughter, a lawyer by profession, Ksenia Prokonova, claims that her grandmother was forced to write a statement for dismissal, even without being given the opportunity to correct the mistake. According to Ksenia, the grandmother’s problems at work began back in 2015, when they tried to fire her due to her age and replace her with another employee. Then Ksenia filed a complaint with the Ministry of Education, the woman was kept at work, but the number of teaching hours was reduced. The teacher’s granddaughter says that despite her age, her grandmother is constantly improving her skills, and during the pandemic, when the institution went remote, the elderly woman very quickly mastered Zoom and YouTube. Ksenia says that her grandmother tries to conduct lectures in Ukrainian, but when she is worried or in a hurry, she can switch to Russian. Notes and documentation are kept in Ukrainian. “The problem is that there is no language environment in Odesa. My grandmother studied Ukrainian only in a Soviet school. Besides, the issue of language was not raised in the educational institution. After all, students also speak Russian,” says Ksenia. However, as the granddaughter says, the teacher admits that she broke the law, is ready to correct the situation, go to language courses and work with a tutor to master Ukrainian in detail. According to Ksenia Prokonova, half a year ago, a student actually spoke at her grandmother’s lecture and said that she refused to listen to Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky. “Grandma suggested that she familiarize herself with the work of other composers, whom the student would choose herself. Later, at the request of the management, grandmother replaced these two composers with Gulak-Artemovskyi and Lysenko, however, the approved curriculum included Russian composers,” says the lawyer. The lawyer says that the other teachers who gave lectures in Russian were only reprimanded, but not fired. “If my grandmother had been given a month, I would have enrolled her in Ukrainian courses. Everything could have been corrected, but the college simply decided to put pressure on the person and force them to write a statement. Currently, we have sent another statement to the college, which revokes the previous one. We may even go to court.” , – says Ksenia. However, the elderly woman does not plan to return to work because of the bad attitude towards her. Currently, she conducts private lessons at home. Read also: The chief conductor of the Odessa Opera, who was photographed with her husband Netrebko, was fired from the theater
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