Belarusian Independent Bologna Committee is launching a series of articles with stories of fired university teachers. We cite articles in their entirety, without editing. All authors could hide the names of universities and departments for security reasons.

Sergei, teacher, Ph.D., associate professor, experience as an associate professor - 15 years.

I resigned from the university on the basis of conscience in September 2020, because I had to go to teach to people who participated in election fraud and who organized violence against their own people. After taking part in the protest, I was arrested, imprisoned, and sentenced under an administrative article, the so-called "people's article" 23.34. During the detention I was subjected to physical and moral violence by police and prison officials.

Over the next year, I was called from several universities to discuss employment opportunities, but after I honestly said I was detained on a political article, the offers were canceled. In fact, I didn’t have much desire to go to university because I saw it as an attempt to cooperate with the regime. Also, there was a high chance that I would be fired after a while on political grounds. This was confirmed in December 2021, when universities and enterprises began to receive lists for the dismissal of politically unreliable, prepared by the Belarusian KGB. In my opinion, the teacher is likely to stay at work, because the system has begun to experience a shortage of staff, but for this you need to give up your principles.

After the dismissal, I decided to work in two directions. I started developing online courses to post them online and make a living. At the same time, I began to learn a programming language for the development of mobile apps (Java), as well as for the development of websites (WordPress). Several times he tried to apply for a job at a university abroad, but so far without much success. Trained in online education courses for repressed teachers. I find them quite useful because they help to develop abilities, in addition, I consider the factor of psychological support important. In terms of employment opportunity in foreign universities under such programs are not very high, so it would be useful to organize joint online projects with investors, such as multidisciplinary online schools or perhaps a research project that could be funded by EU funds.

In December 2021, I decided to leave for Ukraine after political repression intensified. I decided to make an online educational project on corporate governance in the Belarusian language. In my opinion, once the project worked, the regime would come to me in one or two months. In addition, I am preparing analytical materials on economic issues in Belarus, which in the current situation is also a reason for the regime's arrest. He therefore weighed all the risks and chose voluntary emigration for political reasons. I hope that I will be able to do something more useful abroad than behind bars in my homeland.

For fired teachers, I can advise you to first try to get skills of online work, open training courses or record video classes and post it online. It will take at least a year to learn a complex programming language such as Java, so video classes with their lectures can help you hold on. To go to programming courses I would not advise, it is a waste of time and money, using online courses of the necessary subjects is more effective. It is better to buy an online course than to use those that are freely available. Paid courses offer the option of answering questions, and there are many at the beginning of your IT career.