Education minister fails to meet with opposition MP

The meeting between the House of Representatives member Hanna Kanapackaja from the opposition United Civic Party and Education Minister Mikhail Zhuraukou scheduled for 0930 at November 18 was unexpectedly canceled, Kanapackaja told Euroradio.

“Today in the morning about 9 a.m. the education minister's secretary called me and said the minister was urgently on his way to [deputy to the Council of the Republic, ex-minister for labor and social protection] Maryiana Shchotkina. I would not like to think there are right and wrong deputies but questions remain," says Kanapackaja.

MP Kanapackaja scheduled a meeting with the minister several days ago having used the VIP telephone line in her office. She planned to discuss the use of schoolchildren's labor during harvesting campaings on collective farms. In that context, she wanted to touch on the death of a 13-year-old schoolgirl from Maladziecna while picking potatoes by schoolchildren on a collective farm field.

According to Kanpackaja, she remains set to continue getting a meeting with the minister to discuss the illegal use of children's labor in Belarus.