Minister of Education Kravtsov: “The program of capital repairs of schools has really become popular”

The overhaul of schools is a program initiated by the United Russia party and the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation as part of the implementation of the party’s people’s program. More than 7,300 schools are planned to be renovated by the end of 2026. The official start of the program was given at the end of 2021. The interim results of a large-scale social project at the site of Moskovsky Komsomolets were summed up by the Minister of Education of Russia Sergey Kravtsov, the Secretary of the General Council of the United Russia party Andrey Anatolyevich Turchak and other experts.

As Sergei Kravtsov said in his welcoming speech, 1,100 school buildings in the regions of the country have already been repaired.

“There is no such program in any country in the world. Almost all work has been completed. Separately, I would like to note Kalmykia and the Tula region, where 5 school buildings have not been completed. Please check the completion of work by next Monday. We released 15 billion and about 600 schools were additionally repaired. It is important that the competitive procedures for the next year already begin,” Sergey Kravtsov said.

“Going into the second year, we propose that during the overhaul they build a catering unit, create schoolchildren’s rooms and, very importantly, museum spaces. It can be both separate spaces and decorated foyers. We need to talk with our activists who work at the school, and with parent committees, with the guys, where it will appear. So that not only new walls, but also new content appear in the school,” said Olga Kazakova, coordinator of the direction of the people’s program “Modern Education and Advanced Science”, chairman of the State Duma Committee on Education.

Andrey Turchak joined the online discussion from the Sakhalin Region. There he personally checked the results of the overhaul at school No. 22 in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. This year, 14 schools in the region were included in the program. Another 13 will be repaired next. The Secretary of the General Council suggested compiling a register of contractors who failed to complete the school renovation program. Although almost all schools in 75 regions were opened this year, some contractors still have questions.

“As for the “red” zone, I would add several regions where there is a significant backlog. It will be fixed in the near future. These are Udmurtia, Trans-Baikal Territory, Kursk, Novosibirsk and Pskov regions. For each facility in these regions, the assigned deputies are doing this work manually, we are in constant contact with the heads. I am sure that all work on these facilities will be completed by the end of the year. And we need to individually understand the reasons for the delays,” he stressed.

The next year’s budget includes funds for the overhaul of 1.5 thousand schools. Thus, 40% of the plan is supposed to be completed within two years of the planned five-year period. Andrei Turchak instructed the regional departments of United Russia in the new territories to take part in the collection of applications for inclusion in the school overhaul program. Educational institutions of the Luhansk, Donetsk People’s Republics, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions were in an abandoned state even before the start of the SVO. Many schools have been damaged by the fighting.

“It is very important that our regional offices, which have been created in the new subjects of the Russian Federation, actively join in the collection of applications for the next year, in the calculation of the needs for schools that require repairs. I am sure that the federal ministry and the government as a whole will promptly consider, support and accept these applications,” Turchak said.

Most school buildings in the DPR have not been renovated for many years. Restoration work is underway with the participation of curator regions for 159 schools, and proposals have been prepared for the construction of new buildings.

“We need not only to restore, overhaul, but also equip our educational institutions. And here we see how much the approach of United Russia, the curators of the regions, the Ministry of Education. Note.) complex. This includes the provision of textbooks, and the provision of the necessary equipment, computer equipment, since this is not enough in our educational institutions. By joint efforts, we will make our education quality, affordable, and the life of our children happy, ”said the acting. Minister of Labor of the DPR Larisa Tolstykina.

“Despite the most difficult conditions in which Russia continues to work on such huge programs, we are summing up the intermediate results and see that the overhaul program is successful. It turned out to do almost everything that was planned. Our task was to involve the maximum number of not only parents, but also teachers, student teams, and schoolchildren themselves. In response, teachers tell us that they are delighted. They return not just to renovated schools, but to practically new buildings. This inspires them to create and work,” said Alena Arshinova, coordinator of the New School party project.

She also noted the importance of the Moskovsky Komsomolets project, which on its site established a dialogue between the project organizers, its executors and the inhabitants of the country. For 5 months, MK correspondents personally checked how work was being done, communicated with directors of educational institutions and answered questions from parents.

“The overhaul program has really become popular in the truest sense of the word. Because both parents and children participated in design projects and controlled the work at all stages,” Sergey Kravtsov concluded.