We are now adressing you on behalf of Belarusian independent student organisations: “Belarusian Student Association” (BSA), “The Brotherhood of Student Organizations of Self-Governance” (BOSS), “Center for Development of Students’ Initiatives” (CDSI) and “Students’ Council”, together with the group of student activists who speak against introducing a fee for retaking exams and failed credits.
Today is the International Students Solidarity Day and Belarusian students who are now suffering from repressions from their own universities need this very solidarity.
A fee for exams and credits retaking is a certain sum of money that students have to pay if they do not pass the exam from the first time.
Almost all Belarusian universities today have fees for students who retake exams or failed credits, Belarusian State University (BSU) remaining one of the few that still do not. BSU’s administration announced they had been planning to introduce the same practice from January,1 2016. A student movement against it was formed right after the announcement (http://vk.com/club106137406).
An informational campaign was held by the students and 2500 students’ signatures against the novation were collected. University’s administration started to put pressure on the activists and asked them to stop participation in the campaign. Nonetheless, students have brought the signatures to the rector of the university. The very next day right after the signatures were presented, BSU’s administration announced that they will introduce the fees from January. So they defiantly ignored students’ opinion with no discussion.
Right after that, similar student campaigns were started in other universities to cancel the existing practice, Belarusian State Pedagogical University (BSPU) was one of them. University’s administration reacted to the initiative violently. They cracked activists’ personal accounts in social network vk.com (analogy of Facebook), deleted all the posts from the group, scared the activists and promised to kick them out of the university and bring them to the court for using University’s name and symbols in the group. None of these statements have any legal background.
We consider such behavior to be a flagrant violation of country’s academic freedoms. And that happens in the country that has been accepted to the European Higher Educational Area this year.
We, as student organisations and activists of the campaign, can not leave that unnoticed and continue our struggle against exam retaking fees, now aiming to cancel the practice in the entire country.
We are starting the campaign to collect at least 10.000 signatures that will be send directly to the minister of education so as to cancel the fees in all universities of the country.
We call upon European Student Union and national student unions to show solidarity with Balarusian student activists, who suffer from repressions from their universities’ administration on the international students day.
So as to prevent any further repressions, we kindly ask you to:
1) Make a statement about the inadmissibility of any violations of academic
freedoms and any repressions towards students of BSU, BSPU and all other
universities of Belarus;
2) Send this statement to the administration of BSU, BSPU and Belarusian
Ministry of Education (see adresses below);
3) Cover the statement in your national mass media to the biggest extent
possible;
4) Adress your national Ministry of Education asking them to send a statement to
their colleagues from Belarusian Ministry of Education to call them upon
respecting academic freedoms in Belarus and not allow any repressions
towards students.
It’s not that we are asking you to support our position – we ask you to stop violations of academic freedoms and repressions towards students.
International student solidarity has already helped Belarusian students for a couple of times (f.ex.a statement to the Belarusian Ministry of Education after mass detentions during the protest after presidential elections in 2010) and we truly appreciate your contribution asking you to show solidarity again!
Only together we can build a European society where academic freedoms will be the fundamental value and student solidarity will become a real mechanism of students protection rather than an example from history.
With best regards,
Vadimir Mahnach, BSA chairman, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Alexandr Lutsevich, BOSS chairman, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Dmitry Gomeniuk, CDSI director, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Ales Krot, StudRada chairman, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Student activists from the initiative against fees for exams retaking
Feel free to contact us for quick responses with explanations and details of the
situation should you require any.
Contact person:
Maria Skorokhod, activist of the campaign
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Mobile phone: +375291591302
Universities’ and Ministry contact information:
BSPU
http://bspu.by
Rector: Alexander I. Zhuk, Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Professor
Sovetskaya str., 18/3, room 223, 220030, Minsk, Belarus
Phone: +375 17 226 40 20
Fax: +375 17 200 91 83
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
BSU
www.bsu.by
Rector: Sergey V. Ablameyko, Academician of the National Academy of Science of
Belarus, DSc, Professor
Independence avenue, 4, 220030, Minsk, Belarus
Phone: + 375 17 209-52-03
Fax: +375 17 226 59 40
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Ministry of Education
http://edu.gov.by/
Minister: Mikhail A. Zhuravkov, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences,
Professor.
Sovetskays str., 9, 220010, Minsk, Belarus
Phone: +375 17 327-47-36
Fax: +375 17 200-84-83
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.