"What A Disgrace"
- 12.08.2026, 7:33
Belarusians are outraged by extortion in schools.
A Belarusian woman posted on Threads about what she’s raising money for in her classroom. The post garnered over 663,000 views and nearly 1,000 comments, as noted by “Solidarnast”.
“I’m that mom from the parent committee who’ll soon be writing in the Viber chat: ‘Dear parents, let’s collect 50 rubles each for classroom supplies,’” reads the post, which includes a list of expenses.
Water, napkins, towels, disposable cups, toilet paper, gift certificates for the teacher on holidays, as well as magazine subscriptions, baseboards, paint for the classroom, funds for repairs, and household supplies—all of this is listed in the author’s document.
Opinions were divided in the comments. Some thanked the mother for her work on the parent committee.
A teacher who commented on the post explained that supplies for the children are purchased using the school budget.
She clarified that fountains are not typically installed using the school budget, but only with off-budget funds. “If the school doesn’t have those funds, then there are no fountains.”
According to the teacher, the school administration cannot embezzle the money because it has no direct access to it:
— Purchases are made by the Operations Support Center using both budget funds and non-budget funds. The school administration prepares an annual request for purchases using budget funds. The Support Center within the Department of Education carries out the purchases based on this request.
Does the Department always fulfill the request? Do they always accept it, or do they send it back for revisions? Don’t they tell the principal that more and more has to be purchased with off-budget funds every year?
Requests are drawn up not only on a whim or based on needs, but also according to established standards. If a school is allocated 1,000 rolls of paper, that’s all that will be purchased with budget funds.
Do the children use the paper carefully? Or do they sometimes lose their minds, unroll an entire roll, and throw it out the window or flush it down the sink?
This is a rhetorical question for anyone who knows what kids are like outside the home. The same goes for all other supplies, such as cups, water, and so on.
According to the teacher, the school carries out repairs in the hallways, restrooms, and so on throughout the year, most often using funds outside the budget. “The school can’t buy paint for all the classrooms using the budget—they won’t let us.”
The teacher gives an example:
“If there are children from 500 families attending the school, then contributing one base unit every six months to the school board’s account from each family (not to the parent committee and not into the principal’s pocket!) — that amounts to 20,000 rubles every six months, 40,000 a year.
That would be enough to install drinking fountains, buy paint for all the classrooms, toilet paper, soap, and so on. There will still be money left over for equipment (computers, TVs, and so on). And then the parent committee wouldn’t need to collect anything at all, or just small change.”
A former employee of the Education Administration Support Center replied:
“When parents stop contributing to repairs, I’m sure there will be money in the budget for both paint and linoleum. Making purchases at the centers doesn’t take long if you do everything in advance, rather than at the last minute.
Huge budgets are spent on non-urgent items. And with those budgets, classrooms could be repainted eight times over.
Commenters are puzzled: “Looking at the list, I want to ask: how did the Ministry of Education approve the school for the new academic year?”
Yet all of this is already included in the institution’s budget estimate at the budget-planning stage. And you just keep defending and covering up the quiet theft of your tax money.
“So you’re that very mother who stole your children’s future, because how can you live in a country where you have to shell out cash for repairs? What a disgrace.
So what the hell is the point of a state like this? I’ll save your post, just in case I come across a post saying something like ‘I’m proud of my country, and Belarus has entered its golden age.’”
This same user suggests that the mom open her own private school so that parents can bring money there every month.
“At least then it wouldn’t be so upsetting, but since it’s a public school, that means they have to pay for everything: repairs, school supplies, and everything else. Isn’t that how it’s supposed to work? Although, what am I even talking about. I was part of this system myself once. But at least I understood that it wasn’t right.”
Another mom shared her experience: “After receiving the bill from the principal, I called the Department of Education and spoke with the lawyers—they said funding was coming through, and they shouldn’t be asking for anything. So I figured I didn’t have to pay anything either.”
The author of the post was reminded that, according to a decree by the Ministry of Education dated December 28, 2016, matters concerning the raising of funds to support the operations of an educational institution cannot fall within the purview of the parents’ committee.