The only Jewish school closed in Babruisk

• 3.09.2009, 11:47

The local authorities refuse to back the private education establishment.

The only private Jewish education establishment in the Mahilou region – Nursery and Secondary School Ar-Avner – has been closed in Babruisk. The ground is underfinancing. The school has worked due to private donations for six years. According to the school administration, work was suspended for a year, BelaPAN reports.

The school faced problems in January. The administration had to close a programme for secondary school-age children because of insufficient financing. This didn’t solve all problems, and parents were informed about stopping the education programme on July 30.

“We suspended our activity for a year because the budget wasn’t formed,” a representative of the school administration told. “We don’t hope for governmental help, we are a private education establishment and have never received any aid from the state. We hope for the sponsors who were helping us for six years.”

70 children attended the nursery school and secondary school up to the 7th form. Older children went to common town school, small children were taken to town kindergartens.

“We won’t forget our children. We have been teaching them Jewish culture, history, and language. We will organize events for them and invite to all national holidays,” the administration representative told.

The Babruisk education department knows about the problems of the Jewish school but doesn’t want to help it. “We don’t finance private organizations,” a department officer said.

Former teacher from Babruisk Ales Chyhir supposes if the state was interested in national education establishment, it would find a source of financing: “Our form of government is not flexible. It can’t answer the challenges of time. I don’t think the education department doesn’t want a Jewish school. It simply doesn’t care. They don’t have an order from above. The school is good, but no school – no problem.”