All parents dream of an ideal school for their child. Is it worth sending your 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 NOCCHU Center “Orthodox Center for Continuing Education in the name of St. » Tatyana Ivanovna Lesheva.
“The level of our education is higher, but 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 does the funding of Orthodox schools consist of?
If a school is accredited, it must receive government funding. But for the system of non-state schools, which also includes Orthodox schools, the old standard of 2010 has been retained, which is almost half the standard funding per student in the State Budget Educational Institution in 2017.
The second component that influences funding is the parental donation.
- So schooling is paid? What is the tuition donation amount?
In our school - from 5 to 16 thousand per month. But it all depends on the location of the Orthodox school itself. There is a difference: whether it is the center of Moscow or the outskirts. If this is the outskirts of Moscow - western direction or south-southeast. Of course, the Orthodox school on Rublevka has a much higher fee, and this school is in demand.
– How does the state support private schools?
Each subject of the federation has its own standard allocated per student. In Moscow, for non-state private accredited schools, this amount is 5,250 rubles per month (that is, 63,112 rubles per year) And, as I already said, this is the 2010 standard.
Funds are allocated for food for children in the preferential category (breakfast, lunch). Breakfast in elementary school is provided to all students (we’ll talk about the specifics of allocating funds for food below).
The state also undertakes monitoring and quality control educational process and monitoring compliance with the necessary requirements for creating this educational process (licensing requirements). At the same time, the school independently pays for all utilities, expenses for maintaining knowledge, security, repairs, equipment with furniture and technical teaching aids.
The Moscow government has been working for Orthodox schools for more than 10 years, understanding their difficult financial situation, as well as the impossibility of fulfilling the social order in state system, provided the 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' salaries are reduced. It is difficult for such families to pay 5,000 rubles a month for education. It should be taken into account that in many families there is not one child studying, but 3-4-5 children. In order to send the next child to first grade, parents with tears in their eyes are forced to transfer the older child to public school. And even if it's profile class prestigious public school, they do it out of desperation. The outflow of children from Orthodox and other non-state schools this year is noticeable. And this despite high indicators of the quality of education.
– Your school, as I understand it, is low-budget, does the quality of education suffer from low-budget?
In our school it doesn’t suffer. The school has very high indicators of the quality of education. Of the 19 graduates this year, 6 were medalists. Our graduates entered universities such as Moscow State University and the University of Economics. Plekhanov, All-Russian Academy of Foreign Trade, Law Academy, RUDN, Timiryazev Academy, PSTGU, MEPhI, MGSU, MPEI, and a number of colleges.
At the end of last year, we entered the Top 500 schools, which is almost impossible for non-state schools, since not percentage indicators are taken into account, but quantitative ones.
I'll try to explain with specific numbers. State complexes have 1,500–2,000 children and graduating grades 6-8, with a capacity of 25 people per class. Our school graduates only 1 class of 19 people.
(This figure varies from year to year. 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 passed the Unified State Exam with 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 in the TOP 100, and some in the TOP 10.
Under such a system, small schools will always be losers. But, nevertheless, our school was included in this rating, in which there are only three non-state schools. We were very pleased to be next to the private Lomonosov school.
Of course, this is the merit of the entire teaching staff. Teachers not only work in our school, their work can be regarded as sacrificial service. And how I want to increase their salary to the level they deserve. Alas, there is no such possibility.
–Do many wealthy 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 raise good Christians who will serve the Fatherland”
– Isn’t it easier for parents to send their children to a public school, and at the same time to a Sunday school?
Many people do this. But for many parents, the way of life of an Orthodox family is decisive.
We must also take into account that not every child can study in a public school.
In Orthodox schools, the priority has always been the educational system and labor education as well, and the most important thing is that everything is done with prayer and with the blessing of the school’s confessor. Close work is underway - churches, families and schools - this is 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 in relation to the state one in the allocation of funding (standard) per child, and this is a direct violation of the current law on education and the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Orthodox schools suffer most from this discrimination. There are 30 Orthodox schools in Moscow, and the question of the existence of each of them is extremely problematic, because... Orthodox children who come to us to study are mainly children of large families and low-income families. Many families teach several children at once, and this, even with the minimum payment, is very significant for the family budget.
Discrimination between private schools also exists in the issue of food for children of the preferential category in the NOCCHU to the same category of children in the State Budgetary Educational Institution.
The amounts allocated for children's meals in state budgetary educational institutions and night educational institutions have had a significant difference for the preferential category for the past four years, and with each academic year this difference increases. 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 against children of a preferential category from the NOCHU in relation to the same category from the State Budget Educational Institution. I can’t understand what motivated the officials? It seems to me that officials forget that not all private schools exist for the children of high-income parents.
We are concerned that by Decree of the Moscow City Government of February 6, 2017 No. 24-PP, from January 1, 2018, social support measures in the city of Moscow will be provided taking into account the information contained in the Register. This means that children in the preferential category who have 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 protection authorities of this region. At the same time, the parents paid all taxes to the Moscow budget.
A very strange situation arises, clearly unfinished. And neither the Moscow Department of Education nor the Department of Social Protection is to blame for this; the issue has not been resolved at the level of the leadership of the constituent entities of the federations.
That is, first this issue must be resolved between Mayor Sobyanin and Governor Vorobyov or the governors of other regions, and then a resolution must be issued. But these are not residents of the CIS, these are ours indigenous people.
We have positive experience resolving difficult situations. Thus, in 2008, we were able to convince the Department of Education and the Moscow Government that it was necessary to change 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 education in 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 at the end of the 90s the issue of changing the annually increasing rent was positively resolved. The Moscow government first approved a rent of 1 ruble per 1 sq.m. for six Orthodox schools. meter, and later a free use agreement was concluded with all Orthodox schools in Moscow, which is still in effect today.
Through the joint efforts of the directors of the Association of Non-State Education (AsNOOR), this school year they convinced the Moscow Department of Education to equalize funding equal to the state one for children with disabilities.
For the first time in the Law on Education of the Russian Federation No. 273, Article No. 87 appeared, mentioning religious education. I think it needs to be supplemented. The Legal Department of Religious Education and Catechesis is ready to propose 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 in 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 vulnerable ones.
It is necessary to take into account that we are not carrying out narrowly religious tasks, but are successfully solving serious state issues. These are, first of all, issues of spiritual security, labor and patriotic education; children are brought up on traditional values. At the same time, we do not forget about the high level of education. This is thanks to the high professionalism and dedication of the teachers.
Our main task is to raise 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 needs to be discussed separately. We are ready for a new meeting.
– What are the features of raising boys and girls?
– We are trying to have more male teachers. Still, it’s better when boys are raised by men, especially in high school.
– What do graduates become? How many of them are 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 raise good Christians who serve the Fatherland. At the same time, our level of education is even higher than that of ordinary schools, due to the high professionalism and dedication of our teachers.