A school in the Almaty Region has become embroiled in an unusual dispute over a Teacher's Day gift. A teacher's exchange with parents was posted on the social network Threads, according to infohub.kz.
According to the post's author, the incident took place in the village of Otegen Batyr in the Ili District. The teacher in question teaches first grade.
"My first-grade daughter's teacher returned our gifts: a bouquet and a massage certificate. The reason: she didn't like the gifts. Now parents want to collect money again and give our teacher cash. We've only been in school a month," the woman wrote.
She attached a screenshot of the exchange to the post. In the messages, the teacher asked the parents not to give her gifts anymore and explained:
"I am an expert teacher, a master teacher; these gifts are not for my level, please understand me correctly," the teacher reportedly wrote to the parent.
The teacher also complained that the parents had not wished her a happy Teacher's Day in the group chat.
The Ministry of Education reminded that flowers and gifts for teachers should not become an obligation for parents.
"Giving flowers to teachers is a good tradition. However, it should not turn into an obligation, a competition, or a cause of unnecessary expenses. What matters is not the size and cost of the bouquet, but the child's respect for the teacher," the ministry told Kursiv.
Educational organizations, the ministry stressed, should not initiate the purchase of flowers or gifts, collect money for them, or impose such an obligation on parents.
Earlier, Kursiv reported that Deputy Minister of Education Shynar Akparova said that giving flowers or buying any gifts for teachers in schools is not allowed. The ban on the long-standing tradition sharply sparked discontent among parents on social media.
Later, the Ministry of Education denied the ban on gifts.