All parents dream of the perfect school for their child. Should I send my child to an Orthodox school? What is the main problem - lack of funding or good personnel? We are talking about this with the director of the NOCHU Center "Orthodox Center for Continuing Education in the Name of the Monk »Tatyana Ivanovna Lescheva.
"The level of our education is higher, and support from the state is minimal."
- Tatyana Ivanovna, how and why are Orthodox schools created?
Orthodox schools are a social order of the population. They preserve the way of life for an Orthodox family.
- What makes up the financing of Orthodox schools?
If the school is accredited, then it must receive funding from the state. But for the system of non-state schools, which also includes Orthodox schools, the old standard of 2010 has been left, which is almost half the normative funding per student in GBOU in 2017.
The second component that affects funding is parental donation.
- That is, education at school is paid? What is the tuition donation amount?
In our school - from 5 to 16 thousand per month. But everything depends on the location of the Orthodox school itself. There is a difference: is it the center of Moscow, or the outskirts. If this is the outskirts of Moscow - the western direction or south with southeast. Of course, the Orthodox school on Rublevka has a much higher salary, while this school is in demand.
- How does the state support private schools?
Each subject of the federation has its own standard allocated for one student. In Moscow, for non-state private accredited schools, this amount is 5250 rubles per month (that is, 63,112 rubles per year) And, as I said, this is the 2010 standard.
Funds are allocated for children's nutrition preferential category (breakfast lunch). Breakfasts at primary school all students are covered (we will talk about the specifics of allocating funds for food a little below).
The state also undertakes monitoring and quality control educational process and monitoring compliance with the necessary requirements for the creation of this educational process (license requirements). At the same time, the school independently pays for all utilities, expenses for the maintenance of knowledge, security, repairs, equipment with furniture and technical teaching aids.
For more than 10 years, the Moscow government has been for Orthodox schools, realizing their difficult financial situation, as well as the impossibility of fulfilling the social order in state system, provided an opportunity to conclude an agreement for the free use of premises, for which we are very grateful to the Moscow Government.
In difficult economic times, parents lose their jobs, and some parents' wages go down. It is difficult for such families to pay 5,000 rubles a month for tuition. It should be noted that in many families there is not one child, but 3-4-5 children. To send the next child to first grade, parents with tears in their eyes are forced to transfer the older child to a public school. And even if it profile class a prestigious public school, they do it out of despair. The outflow of children from Orthodox and other non-state schools is palpable this year. And this is despite the high indicators of education quality.
-Your school, as I understand it, is low-budget, does the quality of education suffer from low-budget?
In our school, he does not suffer. The school has very high indicators of the quality of education. Out of 19 graduates this year, 6 are medalists. Our graduates entered the budget in such universities as Moscow State University, the University of Economics them. Plekhanov, All-Russian Academy of Foreign Trade, Law Academy, RUDN, Timiryazev Academy, PSTGU, MEPhI, MGSU, MEI, and a number of colleges.
At the end of last year, we entered the Top 500 schools, which is practically impossible for non-state schools, since not percentages are taken into account, but quantitative ones.
I will try to explain with specific numbers. State complexes have 1,500-2,000 children and graduation classes 6-8, with a population of 25 people per class. Our school graduates only 1 class of 19 people.
(This figure changes over the years. As a rule, this is a smaller number of graduates. This year, only three Orthodox schools graduated 19 students each).
The following indicators are taken into account for the rating: quantity students who have passed the exam for 70 points, quantity graduates who scored 210 points in three subjects, how many graduates scored 280 points in four subjects, with quantity graduates scored 100 points in one of the subjects.
If the indicators were taken into account in percentage terms, then most private schools would be included in the TOP-100, and some in the TOP-10.
Under such a system, small schools will always be the loser. But, nevertheless, our school got into this rating, in which there are only three non-state schools. We were very pleased to be near the private Lomonosov school.
Of course, this is the merit of the entire teaching staff. Teachers do not just work in our school, their work can be regarded as sacrificial service. And how I want to increase their salaries to the level they deserve. Alas, there is no such possibility.
-Do many well-to-do parents bring their children to Orthodox schools?
Of course not, because Orthodox families are mostly large families.
- So, in fact, the very existence of Orthodox schools is a miracle?
Yes, it's a miracle. We should be grateful to God for what we are.
"Our task is to educate good Christians who will serve the Fatherland"
- Isn't it easier then for parents to send their child to a public school, and at the same time - on Sunday?
Many do so. But for many parents, the way of life of an Orthodox family is decisive.
It should also be borne in mind that not every child can study in a mass school.
In Orthodox schools, the priority has always been the education system and labor education, including, and most importantly, everything is done with prayer and with the blessing of the school's confessor. Close work is in progress - family churches and schools are the main secret of the success of Orthodox schools.
- I realized that there are problems in the system of financing private schools.
In fact, the entire system of non-state education is discriminated against the state in the allocation of funding (the standard) for one child, and this is a direct violation of the current law on education and the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Orthodox schools suffer to a greater extent from this discrimination. There are 30 Orthodox schools in Moscow, and the existence of each of them is extremely problematic, since Orthodox children who come to study with us are mainly children of large and low-income families. Many families teach several children at once, and this is very significant for the family budget even with the minimum payment.
Discrimination of private schools exists in the issue of feeding children of the preferential category in the NIGHT to the same category of children in GBOU.
The amounts allocated for food for children in GBOU and NOCHU have had a significant difference for the privileged category for four years now, and with each academic year this difference is increasing. If in the past academic year this difference could be 46 rubles in primary school and 49 rubles. in high school (in different municipal districts this difference may have different indicators), then in the current academic year from September 1 this difference exceeds the amount of 50 rubles, which is gross discrimination of children of the privileged category from NOCHU in relation to the same category from GBOU. I can't understand what the officials were guided by? It seems to me that officials forget that not all private schools exist for the children of high-paid parents.
We are worried that by the Resolution of the Moscow City Government dated February 6, 2017 No. 24-PP, from January 1, 2018, social support in the city of Moscow will be provided taking into account the information contained in the Register. This means that children of the privileged category who have a temporary registration in Moscow will be deprived of the right to free meals. Although at the place of permanent registration in their region, these families do not receive any payments for children, as evidenced by certificates issued by the social security authorities of this region. At the same time, the parents paid all taxes to the Moscow budget.
A very strange situation arises, clearly incomplete. And neither the Moscow Department of Education, nor the Department of Social Protection is to blame for it, the issue has not been resolved at the level of the leadership of the subjects of the federation.
That is, first this issue must be resolved between the mayor Sobyanin and the governor Vorobyov or the governors of other regions, and then a decree should be issued. But these are not residents of the CIS, they are our indigenous population.
We have a positive experience in resolving difficult situations. So, in 2008, we were able to convince the Department of Education and the Moscow Government that it is necessary to amend the Law on Education of the City of Moscow in order to equalize funding by status, namely: accreditation of private schools as a lyceum, gymnasium, education center, with a new amendment to the Law on the education of the city of Moscow made it possible to receive equal funding, which became a powerful lever for managing the quality of education. Alas, this is in the past.
It has already been mentioned that in the late 90s there was a positive resolved the issue about the change in the annually increasing rent. The Moscow government first approved the rent for six Orthodox schools at 1 ruble per square meter. meter, and later a contract for gratuitous use was concluded with all Orthodox schools in Moscow, which is still in effect.
With the joint efforts of the directors of the Association of Non-State Education (AsNOOOR) this academic year, they convinced the Moscow Department of Education to equalize funding equal to the state funding for children with disabilities.
For the first time in the Law on Education of the Russian Federation No. 273, article No. 87 appeared, which mentions confessional education. I think that it needs to be completed. The Legal Department of Religious Education and Catechesis is ready to come up with a proposal for amendments to ensure the economic security of the existence of Orthodox schools in Russia.
Although we are part of the non-state education system, we differ from other schools of this system not only in the religious component, but also in the special socially significant order of the population. As a rule, in our schools 60% are children from large families and 30% from socially unprotected ones.
It is necessary to take into account that we are not performing narrowly confessional tasks, but successfully solving serious state issues. First of all, these are issues of spiritual safety, labor and patriotic education, children are brought up on traditional values. At the same time, we do not forget about high level education. This is due to the high professionalism and dedication of the teachers.
Our main task is to educate a good Christian who is useful to his Fatherland.
Let me emphasize once again that the main success of Orthodox schools is the unity of the Church, family and school with the support of the state.
I would not like to cover all the issues of upbringing and the content of education in one interview, this should be discussed separately. We are ready for another meeting.
- What are the features of the upbringing of boys and girls?
- We try to have more male teachers. Still, it's better when boys are raised by men, especially in high school.
- Who do graduates become? Are there many of them priests?
“Many go to seminaries, many of the girls become mothers.
- What do you see as the main task of Orthodox schools?
- The main task is to educate good Christians who serve the Fatherland. At the same time, the level of education in our country is even higher than that of ordinary schools, due to the high professionalism and dedication of teachers.