TEACHERS at Moscow’s school number 1907 take vodka and cash bribes from children desperate for better marks, beat unruly students and publicly humiliate pupils, according to a new educational discussion forum set up by the Russian education ministry.
The latest weapon against falling standards in Russia’s chronically under-funded schools, the Schools Complaints Office, opened for business last month with a telephone hotline in Moscow and an interactive website (www.kids.alledu.ru).
Officials see it as a democratic means for improving schools by encouraging a wider and more open debate on standards. Parents and pupils with access to the Internet see it as a chance to air grievances about endemic corruption, understaffing and poor teaching.
In its first two weeks, the service has been flooded with calls and e-mail messages, mostly from pupils and parents in Moscow, where access to the Internet is more widely available than in most parts of Russia.
The anonymous writer from school number 1907 lists the “illegal actions of the teachers and director” of the school before concluding: “Bribery is rampant. Teachers take not only money but vodka as wellI this is not the whole list of chaos in our schoolI” The mother of a 12-year-old pupil at another Moscow school complains that lessons are frequently cancelled through lack of teachers and worries that if she takes it up with the director her child may be victimised by teachers.
Other comments on the Internet forum have a darker, more political tone: one accused her teacher of “communist leanings” and acting as if she still “lived in Soviet times”.
The education ministry believes the fact that the site is open to all is a sign that the job of preparing children for living in an open society is progressing. Educational experts agree, provided the hotline and Internet chat room lead to action.
Julia Tourchaninova, an educational writer and former deputy head of Russia’s national teacher training institute, said that giving children a say in their education was essential, but warned that simply creating a forum was not enough if the ministry was to avoid accusations of merely adding a new layer of bureaucracy.
“The education ministry will need an enormous staff to react and respond to what they learn,” she said. “The key thing is that the site is public and can enable parents to access information when considering in which school they should place their children.”
