Teachers in Buvayda report being forced into round-the-clock duty,

Under the order, teachers were assigned to continuous duty from December 25 to January 6 “to ensure calm and order at the school, as well as the safety and health of the staff.” Reports indicate that even during five officially designated public holidays, teachers were required to stay at the school, working in two shifts.

Kun.uz’s editorial office received a letter purportedly written on behalf of teachers at School No. 37 in Buvayda district of the Fergana region. The letter states that starting from December 25, staff members were forced to remain at the school and carry out duty shifts. The authors claim that even on official holidays – from December 31 to January 4 – they were required to stay on the premises.

A copy of the order submitted to the editorial office suggests these claims may be accurate. The document, bearing the signature and official seal of principal Hasanboy Nishonov, approves a list of teachers required to perform two-shift duty at the school over a 13-day period. The order states that night duty was arranged in connection with the New Year holidays to ensure calm and order at the school, as well as the safety and health of the staff. Employees of the institution describe this as pressure being exerted on them.

“They told us: if you don’t do duty, we’ll take away your teaching hours. Teachers were forced. Women stayed during the day, men at night. Is there any way to hold such a principal accountable? Please cover this appeal,” one teacher said.

Video recordings and screenshots of Telegram messages made during the duty days also show that teachers were present at the school on weekends.

“Here we are on duty today. It’s December 31, New Year’s Eve – seeing off the old year and welcoming the new one. Mukhlisa came with her daughter, and the child fell asleep. We are sitting at the school on duty. We arrived at 12:00; we don’t even know whether anyone was on duty before us. I don’t know whether anything like this is envisaged by our laws at all,” one of the video’s authors said.

For reference, under the Law “On the status of teachers,” it is prohibited to involve educators in work unrelated to their professional duties, including area beautification and agricultural work.