The denigration of teachers online through tendentious comments, unfounded accusations or revelation of personal data on webpages of parent groups has become more evident with the development of social networking sites, being the expression of lack of morals, said Mariana Marin, who heads the branch in Moldova of the General Association of Teachers of Romania (AGIRoMd). In a discussion with IPN’s reporter, Mariana Marin compared the situation in Moldova with that in the EU, giving Finland, where the teachers are respected, as an example.
Mariana Marin said that she is not against the criticism that the parents can level at teachers, but the parents should realize that if the teacher’s image is damaged, this might never be rebuilt. “The legitimate criticism should not be formulated with aggressive words, with malicious comments, by revealing personal data, like the size of the salary of some of the teachers, using the names of teachers, without sustainable arguments, with perverse methods as this is abuse against the teachers,” said Mariana Marin, noting that among “perverse methods” is the use of mobile phones or other devices to film or to record the voice.
The chairwoman of AGIRoMd said the denigration of teachers is witnessed not only in Moldova, but also in other states, like Romania. She called on the parent associations to review their attitude to teachers, to support the teachers in their development, to help improve the quality of the teaching process and to work out projects to obtain financing for refresher courses for teachers and they will be then able to ask more of teachers.
For her part, Ana Eremei-Berezovschi, principal of “Mihail Berezovschi” Lyceum, stated for IPN that some of the parents teach the teachers how to work. “When the image of teachers is spoiled, the education process is affected. If the teacher has a negative image in the student’s house, the student will not have stimuli to learn well,” explained Ana Eremei-Berezovschi. She underlined the importance of harmonious interaction between the education of students by parents and the education of students by teachers at the lyceum. This is possible if the parents respect the teachers, while the teachers respect the parents.
Cristina Frunză, a member of the community “Solidary Parents”, has told IPN that to be respected, the teachers should gain respect. The children see how the teachers accept money in kindergartens and schools and the problems derive from here. “The teachers do not respect the children whose parents refuse to make extra payments. For example, in two days after I refused to pay money, I saw that my child was dressed incorrectly. When I warned the educator, she told me that this is not her duty,” said the parent. Cristina Frunză, who is the mother of three, noted that due to such attitudes as well, she left Moldova and settled in Denmark. She said that in Denmark, the teachers do not accept even a chocolate from parents, while at meetings of teachers and parents, the administrator of the school organizes by a meal without asking the parents to pay money for this.
Cristina Frunză said that in 2017-2018, a large group of parents, among whom she was, protested in front of the Government Building and demanded higher pays for teachers. “If they want to get higher pays, they must struggle and obtain financing projects, not struggle against teachers,” she stated.
