Translated material
Business class
Parents do not like the struggle of the Moscow authorities for the financial purity of schools
The mass dismissal of directors of schools and kindergartens in the capital, which occurred at the end of last week, caused heated debate among both employees of educational institutions and parents. On the one hand, the struggle of city officials for the transparency of financial relations between the school and parents is correct and noble. But, on the other hand, due to the Russian bureaucracy, it is not always beneficial to consumers of educational services - the child and his parents, since it complicates access to money for the school even in cases where it is voluntary and justified.The other day, 13 heads of kindergartens and schools received their leave of absence personally from the head of the capital’s Department of Education, Lyubov Kezina. About 20 more managers escaped with reprimands and verbal warnings, while keeping their jobs. This is the first time such a massive local dismantling has occurred.
As the department explained to Vremya Novostei, all cases of dismissal have the same reason - extortion of money from parents and failure to provide financial reporting on the use of “donations” - both to the department and to parents. “From May 4 to May 18, the department conducted a hotline,” the department told us. -- About 200 complaints were received from parents about extortion in schools and kindergartens. The Control and Audit Department conducted a fact-check. Despite the fact that there were many complaints, far fewer punishments followed. We were able to take action only on those cases that were proven. Unfortunately, more than 70% of the calls were anonymous, and parents refused further cooperation.”
Vremya Novostei learned that, in particular, the heads of schools No. 20, 1963, 1803, 1255, 436 and the heads of kindergartens No. 1590, 1605, 1715 from South-Western, Southern, Western, South-Eastern have lost their jobs administrative districts.
However, fair measures against bribe-takers will now result in real losses for decent educational institutions in the capital. Lyubov Kezina prohibited accepting entrance fees from children for admission to school, including voluntary donations, and also recalled the ban on accepting cash from parents. All funds must be received only by bank transfer, explained the head of the capital’s education department.
As you know, in many metropolitan schools, parents themselves prefer to transfer small amounts of money from hand to hand to the class teacher or head teacher. These are contributions for security, additional excursions, and minor repairs. If you make these payments through a savings bank, you will not only have to wait in line, but also pay additional interest for the transfer. Without interest, money for the needs of the school is accepted only by the Bank of Moscow, whose branches are not always located near the educational institution. Obviously, there will definitely not be more sponsors from this.
According to Moscow City Duma deputy Evgeny Bunimovich, who oversees education issues, the city budget can so far allocate to schools no more than 70% of the standard optimally calculated for educating one child. The educational institution has to raise the rest with the help of sponsors. “There are many good schools in Moscow where additional funding from parents is openly provided, and, of course, parents are sent a report on the use of the money. And I have never encountered any complaints from these schools. When parents know where their money is going, they perceive it normally,” Mr. Bunimovich told Vremya Novostei.
Complete unanimity with the capital's legislator was expressed by the director of one of the prestigious capital's gymnasiums - No. 1513 - Alexander Bubman. He also admitted to Vremya Novostey that the money provided by the state is not enough for the school. “For example, the state does not allocate money for child protection, but requires that it be organized,” explained Alexander Bubman. - Parents collect money and hand it over to the savings bank, bring the receipt to the accounting department. Money is also collected for the holidays to pay the best students a scholarship. The parent committee and classes decide on all this."
It is noteworthy that both legislators and directors support the tough measures of the relevant capital department. However, they really hope that the issue of sponsorship will be resolved not only through prohibitions, but also through reasonable compromises. In particular, the director of gymnasium No. 1513 believes that “the city could exempt parent sponsors from taxes on the amount that they contributed to help the school, as is practiced in many countries.” And Evgeniy Bunimovich proposes to dismiss the directors of those schools who do not are in demand among parents, and transfer space to the balance of well-established educational institutions. Thus, the best schools will not have such high competition and the temptation to charge “entrance fees” for admission, respectively.