Bro, hold on tight, 'cause I've got news that'll make you wonder where the hell we ended up! Two teachers from a high school in Kyiv were fined for having the nerve to teach in Russian in primary classes. Yeah, you heard that right, bro, fined for speaking the language my grandpa used back in the day, in Berceni. Now, I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but listen to how it went down.
The Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language, one Ihor Spiridonov, announced Tuesday that the two teachers were caught during an inspection after a complaint. And what do you think? The checks confirmed that these guys broke the law that says only Ukrainian should be spoken in schools. No joke, that's the rule of law, man! Each teacher got a fine of 3,400 hryvnias, about 82 bucks. Now, for us, 82 bucks is a cigarette and a coffee, but for a teacher in Ukraine, it might be a month's worth of food. Or maybe not, 'cause I don't know what salaries they have there. But hey, it's a symbolic sum to knock some sense into them.
The authorities didn't name the school, probably to avoid giving it free publicity. But the commissioner's rep said this isn't the first case this school year, 2025-2026. So it's a trend, bro! And Spiridonov stated, and I quote: "The fines have a preventive role and remind teachers that using the language of the aggressor state is unacceptable." The aggressor state, meaning Russia, obviously. So, in the middle of a war, these guys thought to fine teachers for speaking Russian.
Now, let's be serious. I get that there's a war and the Russians are the aggressors. But it reminds me of that thing in Romania, when we had checks on Romanian language in Hungarian schools. Now, I'm not saying it's the same thing, but it smells a bit like extremism. Those teachers, maybe they spoke Russian out of habit, 'cause they grew up with it, not to spread propaganda. But the law is the law, and if they said it's not allowed, that's it.
I look at myself, in Berceni, at Brian, who learns English from TikTok and comes home with "yo, bro, what's up?" If they fined him for speaking English at school, what would Mioara do? She'd raise hell at city hall! But here it's different, it's a matter of national identity, cultural survival. On the other hand, it seems a bit over the top. And then, 82 bucks? For a word? Come on, be serious, Mr. Commissioner! If you ask me, I'd rather send them to a Ukrainian language course, not take their money.
Who pays for all this? In the end, the state pays, 'cause those teachers are still paid from the budget. And if you fine them, you cut their salary, and then the state loses too. It's a PR thing, bro, to show they're serious about the national language. But to me, it seems like they're overdoing it. Instead of focusing on the war, they're looking at the language in schools. Well, maybe that's important too, but it doesn't seem like the right time, right?
