War at “Mircea Eliade” Lyceum

A group of teachers of the Chisinau-based theoretical lyceum “Mircea Eliade” asked the Prosecutor’s Office to save them from the terror of principal Elvira Grau, who terrorizes them psychologically. In a news conference on June 1, they said that a real war has taken place inside the teaching staff for many years. According to them, former Minister of Education Leonid Bujor attended a meeting at a lyceum and expressed his indignation at the situation inside the institution. The teachers said that after the then visit of the minister, it was decided to organize a contest to choose a new principal. But the new director could not take up his duties as Elvira Grau went on sick leave and had been absent for seven months. Meanwhile, she appealed to court and the court invalidated the results of the contest. The teachers stated that since Elvira Grau has held the post of principal, she issued forged documents and admitted students who came from abroad without giving them the required tests. Bank cards on the names of employees of the lyceum, who in reality didn’t work at the institution, were found in the director’s safe. The teachers demanded that the Prosecutor General’s Office investigate these cases. Elvira Grau is also accused of favoring certain teachers and students. If a lower grade is given to one of these students, the teacher is reprimanded at meetings. The teachers said that the principal is ready to destroy the high school in order to leave those who criticize her for her totalitarian administration methods without a job. Elvira Grau closes by a fifth grade class every year without reason. When the teachers asked the education divisions and the Ministry of Education to take measures, they were told that nothing can be done and were advised to get along well between them or the lyceum may be closed. The professors said that in a meeting they asked Elvira Grau to renounce her authoritarian style of management and to stop intimidating them. The conflict worsened after that and 18 of the 33 teachers of the school gave her a vote of no confidence. The discontented teachers believe that the principal is protected by government officials. One of the twelfth graders is the son of deputy prosecutor general Andrei Pantea. But the teachers said that he does well and nobody intervened to ask favors for him.