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Section IV. Education

Pupil reluctant to clean school, sues

Teachers in Ukrainian school have traditionally thought
nothing of keeping their pupils behind after classes to clean the
grounds. Now, if a test case against a secondary school in Kryvy
Rih is successful, they may think better of it.
Volodymyr Kasyanyk, an eight year – old pupil in the second
grade at Kryvy Rih School No 84, and his father Yury Kasyanyk
have filed a lawsuit against the school after its director required
pupils to clean the school yard.
Cleaning the school is an old Soviet tradition that is still
widespread in the nation’s public schools. Usually cleaning duties
are reserved until after classes, but sometimes they replace lessons.
The activity is described as “socially useful labor” and it is thought
to inculcate children with habits of diligence and respect for
nature.
The teachers at School No 84 think that picking up litter from
the school grounds is a normal part of the educational process.
Yury Kasyanyk, however, disagrees.
The Kasyanyk family lives in one of the worst district of
Kryvy Rih, an area notorious, crime and drug addiction. Apart
from Volodymyr, the Kasyanyks have three more children. Both
parents are unemployed.
The dispute with the school began when Volodymyr’s
mother started to worry one evening when he did not come home
at the expected time. Since the family does not have a telephone,
she decided to go to the school to see if Volodymyr was still there.
“When she saw him in school, he was dirty. He told her that
he could not leave earlier as he had been forced to clean the
school,” Serhy Yakimenko, the Kasyanyks’ lawyer, told the Post.
Yury Kasyanyk complained to the school’s directors,
demanding that his son be exempted from cleaning duties.

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