Two teachers lose jobs over seeing drag shows on a Turkish holiday

Two schoolteachers have been fired in Kazakhstan’s Kyzylorda Region for watching drag shows while on holiday in Turkey, reports said.

Their sacking was demanded by their students’ parents who learnt of their visits to Turkish night clubs from their social media accounts. The parents accused the teachers, whose names have not been disclosed, of “indecent behaviour”.   

The school’s director Gulzhan Narbayeva said that the decision to dismiss the two teachers, who are both female and teach English, was taken at a special meeting of the teachers’ council.

“After discussing the incident, we decided to fire the two teachers. It is very sad that they were spotted in a club like that. They are not just teachers, but also mothers, who are bringing up their own children,” she said.

However, MP and former education minister Askhat Aymagambetov on Wednesday spoke out in defence of the teachers.

He said the teachers were “human beings, like everyone else” and had the right to a private life.

“No one should be restricted in their rights. We have to differentiate our demands of them as teachers and as ordinary citizens,” he said.

“We have to look into the case closely and see what exactly they are guilty of.”

Political observer Gaziz Abishev also defended the teachers, saying all they were guilty of was “going on a holiday to Turkey, paying for it with their honestly-earned money, and enjoying some completely legal entertainment”.

“What exact Kazakh laws did they violate? … Watching a show in a legal Turkish club is not antisocial behaviour,” he said.

“Or is there some regulation concerning teachers’ behaviour that they breached? … If not, the school’s administration has blatantly overreached themselves,” Abishev added.

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