ILLUSTRATION: KATYA VAKULENKO “The roof kept leaking, the mold kept spreading and the kids kept freezing” Why thousands of russian schools in the 21st century have modern computers — but no central heating or functioning toilets Alil Magomedov is the principal of the Vikhli village school in the Kulinskiy district of Dagestan. One of the school buildings was constructed back in 1928. Now the building is considered dilapidated beyond renovation.

This Story is Also Available in English Geere Alil Magomedov is the director of the school in the village of Vikhli in the Kulinsky district of Dagestan. One of the buildings of this school was built back in 1928. Now the building is recognized as emergency and is not subject to repair. Other buildings are also in poor condition: plaster was crumbling, in the summer of 2019 a significant part of one of the walls collapsed, the supporting beam of the ceiling in the office broke.

ILLUSTRATION: KATYA VAKULENKO “The roof kept leaking, the mold kept spreading and the kids kept freezing” Why thousands of russian schools in the 21st century have modern computers — but no central heating or functioning toilets Alil Magomedov is the principal of the Vikhli village school in the Kulinskiy district of Dagestan. One of the school buildings was constructed back in 1928. Now the building is considered dilapidated beyond renovation.

Alil Magomedov is the principal of the Vikhli village school in the Kulinskiy district of Dagestan. One of the school buildings was constructed back in 1928. Now the building is considered dilapidated beyond renovation. Others are also in a bad shape: peeling stucco here, a broken ceiling support beam there; a sizable wall section in one of the buildings simply collapsed in the summer of 2019.

Illustration: Katya Vakulenko “The roof continued to leak, the children were freezing, and mold was growing.” Why in the 21st century thousands of Russian schools have computers, but no heating or toilets Alil Magomedov is the director of a school in the village of Vikhli in the Kulinsky district of Dagestan. One of the buildings of this school was built back in 1928. The building is now considered to be in disrepair and cannot be repaired.