Teachers – Radziszewska breaches human rights
School is supposed to teach tolerance and you breach the basic human rights Ms Radziszewska – the members of the Polish Teachers’ Union have written in their open letter.
ZNP wrote a protest against the statements of the Government Plenipotentiary for Equal Treatment Elzbieta Radziszewska. On Tuesday in her controversial interview on the television programme "Dzień dobry TVN" she suggested that catholic schools should have the right not to employ teachers who are homosexuals. Homosexuality goes against the catholic point of view (dogma). The minister said that it would be enough even not to offer homosexuals teaching positions if their sexual preferences clash with the general beliefs and opinions of a certain group of people or the community.
- Those comments were scandalous and they breach the basic human rights – says the President of ZNP Sławomir Broniarz in the protest.
The unionists compare Radziszewska’s statements to the actions taken by the former Minister of Education Roman Giertych (LPR) in the governmental coalition between PiS, LPR and Samoobrona.
In 2007 Giertych wanted to introduce a ban of the “homosexual propaganda” in schools. Not obeying this policy was supposed to be punished by a fine or even limitation of personal freedom. Who was supposed to be punished? According to the Ministry of Education from that time, ‘anyone who had an intention to promote homosexuality or other deviations’. The strong supporter of such solutions was the vice minister Mirosław Orzechowski (LPR).
- It will impede promotion of “inappropriate” behaviours in schools and other educational institutions – declared the vice minister. As an example of damaging homosexual propaganda Orzechowski showed leaflets of The Lesbian and Gay Group from Cracow from 1998 with the slogan “ live passionately, make safe love. The leaflets were part of a campaign against HIV promoting usage of condoms and safe sexual behaviours.
The Educational Bill was supposed to be updated with an additional notion “ban of homosexual propaganda and of other sexual deviations”. Giertych also received support from the Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski.
Due to numerous protests the Ministry of Education withdrew from the Project. The General Secretary of Education International Fred van Leeuwen expressed his disapproval of the concept in the newspaper “Gazeta Wyborcza”.
„Gazeta” asked: ‘Why the prime minister of the EU member country makes decisions and releases statements which are in an obvious opposition to the basic human rights?”
According to ZNP this is exactly what minister Radziszewska is doing at the moment.