Teachers Massively Underpaid for Leading ‘Talk About the Important’

The school innovation of 2022 “Talk about the important” has already become the talk of the town. The AP is dissatisfied with the formal approach and wants more genuine feeling from teachers. Parents and children are unhappy with the “extra” lesson. And now it became known that the teachers are annoyed. And not even an increased workload, but the fact that nothing is paid for it.

Bashkortostan, Karelia, the Irkutsk region, the Moscow region, Krasnodar, Kaluga, Izhevsk, Volgograd… Complaints come from almost everywhere that teachers are not paid for “Conversations…” And this, excuse me, is an additional 22 hours a year. Moreover, it is necessary to carefully prepare for the ROV, and there is not only a theme, but there are also scenarios, lessons, additional photo and video materials … The topics, as you know, are also very diverse, from “Music Day” to “Russia is the world nuclear leader”. Moreover, in the form of a dialogue, the lesson must be conducted, the information must be presented in an unbroken, interactive way. Moreover, these lessons are meticulously checked …

“I don’t understand what is happening,” Olga, a teacher from Pokrov, is indignant. – The administration makes round eyes and is surprised: what else is the payment? It’s all within the class manual you have. And my friend, she is also a teacher and a class teacher, is not paid because the ROV is an extracurricular activity. Generally great! Extracurricular activities are part of the school curriculum, but they are not paid. And the class teacher, then, is a man-orchestra, on a voluntary basis. And a subject teacher, with all the consequences, and an organizer of Olympiads, excursions, holidays. And a walker in the apartments of the socially disadvantaged, and at rallies-subbotniks we … And now we are additionally drowning for patriotism! ..

However, in those schools where class teachers were nevertheless paid for the ROV, the amounts in the payments resemble mockery.

“It is unfashionable not to give meat to tigers in a zoo, but not to pay teachers money just right,” Nikolai Yuryevich, a historian from the Novosibirsk region, ironically. – Here, I have 363 rubles payment for the ROV. That’s a lot, friends! Colleagues have even more interesting sums: 156 or even exactly 100… Variety of infinitesimal values. But with this, guys, already to mathematicians …

“Interesting amounts” arose where teachers were paid as a percentage of the salary, explained MK. ROV was not highly rated, only 2-2.5% of the “bare” salary. And these payments generally depend on the school administration or the decision of local authorities. For example, in the Kaluga region, the regional minister of education spoke in the spirit of the times: “There will be no payment, period.” And, for example, in the Kostroma region, the decision is entirely on the conscience of the school administration.

– Monthly, from the municipality, another local authority or from the district, department, depending on the level of subordination of the school, the nn-th amount is deducted for extracurricular activities, – says the head teacher and deputy director for educational work at the village school Evgenia (name changed). – It includes everything after school hours: mugs, after-school classes, excursions, hikes and trips, class hours, exhibitions, concerts … Both organizational expenses and payment to teachers are included there. Well, to be honest, part of the payment is clamped. Sometimes the fund itself is small, if the school is small, for example. As for the ROV, in a number of schools in our district they are paid as a regular hourly load for teachers. According to the tariff scale. I have not heard of any more significant forms of encouragement. Maybe in Moscow…

“MK” interviewed several familiar teachers in Moscow. And it turns out that in the capital they still pay for the maintenance of the ROV. Basically, the same as for additional hours for billing. Although, in some schools, 5,000 rubles were added to the salary for the ROV, but these are isolated cases. Our question about 15,000 rubles, which was promised for the maintenance of the ROV at the beginning of September (there were such conversations), made the teachers laugh.

On August 2, 2022, a meeting was held at the Ministry of Education with the participation of not only the heads of all regional education departments, but also representatives of local executive authorities. Then it was decided that the ROV is an extracurricular activity, and the resolution says in black and white: to put under special control “the remuneration of pedagogical workers.” It is those who conduct the ROV. It is interesting that the inclusion of the ROV in extracurricular activities and in the school curriculum was later carried out by order in the ministry. And the payment line remained at the level of recommendations to local authorities. “It means that there will be no payment for all this,” teachers commented back then, in August.

“Dmitry Peskov said not so long ago that profanity should not be allowed in relation to Conversations,” sums up Olga from the Moscow Region, she teaches chemistry and biology. “I wonder who’s doing it?” We are honestly preparing, we are carrying an additional load. And not only the ROV, because no one even thinks of paying extra for teachers to organize olympiads or check the GPR. But still extra hours! .. When we boiled and several teachers with class management went to the director to find out, do you know what she said? “One must love one’s homeland unselfishly.” That’s where, excuse me, a formal approach and profanity. Also arrogance and cynicism.