Ukrainian language school in Donetsk successfully defended

In Donetsk parents and students of Ukrainian School No. 136 in the Budyonivsk District have managed to avert the closure of the school by proving to the local authorities the need for the full functioning of this school.

The parents announced that at the general school meeting on Tuesday the decision had been adopted to take students of both the first and ten grades for the next academic year.  They say that the meeting was attended not only by the students, parents and teachers of the school, but also the Head of the Budyonivsk District Council Viktor Kartsev, a deputy commission from the Council, journalists, as well as representatives of civic and political organizations.

The local authorities acknowledged that enough applications had been lodged by parents wanting to enrol their children in the first and tenth grades.

If the assurances that the classes will run are honoured, then this is a major achievement for the parents, who called it a “second birth for the school”.

The parents and students of Ukrainian School No. 136 had held a big protest on 8 February against the closure of the school.

A teacher from the school, Svitlana Ovcharuk, had stated at the protest rally that officials from the Department of Education of the Budyonivsk district were intimidating teachers and forcing the teaching staff to move to other schools.

She added that the district Department of Education had, at the decision of the District Commission, forbidden admitting students to the first and tenth grades of this school. “They want to get rid of the first and tenth grades , declare the school unviable and close it”.

In 2011 in the Donetsk region they plan to close 26 general education schools, 2.5% of the overall number.