[hr-education] Re: Chief of Polish Center for Teachers' Training fired for promotion of HRE manual

Dear Colleagues,

Please find below the letter sent by the Helsinki Committee in Poland to
Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, Prime Minister of Poland, regarding the dismissal
of Mr Miroslaw Sielatycki, the director of the National In-Service Teacher
Training Centre, because of the Council of Europe's handbook "COMPASS -- A
manual on human rights education with young people".

http://www.hfhrpol.waw.pl/en/index_pliki/pdf/letter_premier_Kompass2.pdf
[PDF file]

 
Yours sincerely,

Marta Lempicka

-- 
Helsinska Fundacja Praw Czlowieka
Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights

 ul. Zgoda 11
00-018 Warszawa
Poland
tel. +48 22 556 44 40, 828 10 08
fax. +48 22 556 44 50, 556 44 51

 

On 9 June 2006, Reinhard Eckert wrote:

 fyi, sad but true...

 The Chief of Polish Center for Teachers' Training is fired for promotion
of COMPASS!!! by Dariusz Grzemny - Friday, 9 June 2006, 02:11 PM

Just copy the letter I posted to the world...

 Dear friends,

 As you probably heard, today The Polish Minister of Education Mr. Roman
Giertych, officially dismissed The Director of Polish In-Service Teachers
Training Centre for the publication of "Compass: a manual on human rights
education with young people". In the letter of dismissal it is clearly
stated that the only reason was to be involved in publishing the manual.
The minister says:

 This Manual speaks about issues of the homosexual relations as being
equal to the matrimonial relations between woman and man. The contents
included in this Manual accept thesis that the prohibition of matrimonial
homosexual relations and the adoption of children by homosexual couples
may constitute an element of discrimination. Such contents are in
contradiction to the core curriculum for general education; therefore they
can not be, by any means, presented as methodological resources for
teacher.

 Here in Poland we are very affected by this decision, which was also
followed by the interview of the Vice-minister of Education, who said in
today's news that the Ministry is considering banning the distribution and
sale of COMPASS.

 The Minister of Education, a leader of the League of Polish Families
Party, a nationalistic party wants instead to concentrate on introducing
the new subject in schools, which will be called patriotic education,
where young people will learn how to be real Polish Patriots and good
citizens, whatever that means.

 The Minister's decision and the attempt to ban the distribution of
Compass are against Polish Constitution, which prohibits censorship and
gives all Polish citizens all rights and freedoms, which are also stated
in the European Convention of Human Rights.

 We would like to ask you for your support and protest against these
decisions. All support is important. Please write your e-mails or faxes to
the Chancellery of the Prime Minister. Here are the details:

 E-mail: rzecznik@kprm.gov.pl
Fax: +48 22 694-68-26

 
Thanks a lot for your understanding.

 Dariusz Grzemny
Association for Children and Young People CHANCE
Responsible for the Polish translation of Compass

 

 

 
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