Arseny Yatsenyuk, leader of the Front for Change has filed a complaint with the Prosecutor General alleging that school heads in the Zhytomyr region are being forced to use questionnaires regarding their staff’s political preferences.

Mr Yatsenyuk says that according to information received, the Department of Education within the Malyn City Council in the Zhytomyr region has instructed the heads of all local schools to carry out a study of the civic-political views of its staff. A questionnaire was attached to the instruction where most of the questions concern teachers’ political views, including which political party or bloc they would vote for, or whether they will vote for the same political party as at the last parliamentary elections.

He points out that such demands on school heads is quite outside the jurisdiction of the particular departments and is an infringement of legislation.

The questionnaire also asks people’s age and gender and Yatsenyuk believes there is a strong likelihood that teachers will be subjected to pressure and manipulation of their opinion by the management of their schools “bearing in mind the dependence of subordinates on the actions and decisions of management”.

He demands that the Prosecutor General’s Office investigate and bring those responsible to answer.