The difficulties of teachers in new territories resembled a minefield: parents do not let their children go to school

School teachers in the new territories of the Russian Federation have problems, although not the ones that are sometimes attributed to them. But getting to the true difficulties of teachers is like walking through a minefield. And teachers are mainly afraid of offending the children they inherit, who are already wounded by the history of the country that is happening before their eyes, for which many are not yet prepared even through a school history course.

Parents of their students from the annexed territories spoke about the difficulties of their beloved teachers on the eve of Teacher’s Day.

On September 30, the Russian Federation, with its renewed composition, celebrated the first anniversary of the annexation of the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, as well as the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics. On the first day of the new school year, according to the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, 1,300 Russian schools opened in new territories. Volunteer teachers from all over Russia were invited to participate in them, but, according to local educational authorities, they were not needed, their own were enough. Despite certain difficulties, they went to school, and September 1 became a bright holiday of “knowledge and goodness.”

– What are “certain difficulties”? – I ask the mother of a third-grader from Mariupol, who asked to call her by the code name Elena.

“There are a lot of lies from that side now,” says Elena. – For example, they said that teachers from the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions were allegedly forcibly deported to the annexed territories, they were made sure that they did not remain on the Ukrainian side – this is not true. Those who wanted to went to the other side. And whoever moved to the left bank of the Dnieper wanted it that way. But here they have problems with some parents.

Indeed, exactly a year ago, the Russian Minister of Education recommended that teachers specifically from the Kherson region move to the left bank of the Dnieper, to Crimea or the Krasnodar Territory. Recommended – but did not insist. And many school teachers in the Zaporozhye region themselves collectively made this decision and moved to the “left bank” cities that became Russian.

“In our school, most of the teachers are from Kherson,” shares Elena. – In winter, they complained (among themselves, but it dawned on us) that they had nothing. Everything was left at home – clothes, cars, furniture, dishes. And the house in Kherson, you can’t get there, it’s a war zone. And, they say, taking this into account, they could be paid bonuses for setting up a household in a new place. But in reality, their promised salaries are only delayed. Then the financial issue seemed to be somehow resolved, it became easier, but threats began.

– From whom?

– From those who do not want children on the left bank to be taught according to the Russian curriculum. Although, unlike the right bank, on the left bank they left Ukrainian as a second language. At the request of the parents. Only there were no textbooks on it.

– Why?

– Russian textbooks were brought by volunteers from Moscow and St. Petersburg, and more than once, but a textbook on “classical Ukrainian” still needed to be created, this didn’t exist in Russia, it’s not like studying from Ukrainian textbooks. We have one male teacher, at his own expense and at his own peril and risk, drove his car through the combat zone and brought Ukrainian textbooks dating back to the times of the USSR; he knew the library where they were. You can use them to teach your little ones until a new textbook arrives.

– Do many parents want their children to learn Ukrainian?

– I have a sister in the Kherson region, a friend in Berdyansk, so I know for sure that it’s different everywhere. Few of our parents demanded language at school. But in the Kherson region, many parents not only demand, but also secretly teach their children remotely in Ukrainian schools. And they refuse to drive to the “pro-Russian” ones, saying that “now our people will come and deal with us for collaboration, and we have children.” But even though these people are only afraid for themselves and their children, there are also those who openly threaten teachers. They say, if you cooperate with the invaders, you will pay for it.

Let’s check the news agenda: indeed, at the end of winter, teachers in the annexed territories raised the issue with local education departments about the lack of textbooks and manuals and about their salaries. The teaching contingent, evacuated from their homes, asked to consider the possibility of additional payments as compensation for accommodation, because they do not have their own housing. As well as payments for transportation to and from school and additional payments for teaching in “undeveloped areas” and in a combat zone. But now there are no complaints, and the head of the educational department of the Russian Federation emphasized on September 1 that “despite everything, the information war, the pressure and threats they receive, school teachers in the annexed territories went to school.”

– Have their material requirements been satisfied? – I ask the parent.

– Perhaps, in any case, teachers don’t complain to parents. A fund of teachers has also appeared, they help each other both financially and morally, this is very good, of course. Otherwise, you’ll just have to wait until the officials…

– Well, here we are often restless, and many parents do not let their children go to school, as they report in the morning. Like, it was an arrival, we won’t come. And working with a class in which one or the other did not show up is very difficult. Although parents, of course, can be understood.

According to the Deputy Minister of Education of the Russian Federation, during September manuals on the Ukrainian language for primary schools were sent to schools in Donbass, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. He noted that “if parents expressed a desire for their children to study Ukrainian optionally as their native language, these teaching aids were created for this purpose.” But the main language in Russian schools in the new territories will be Russian. According to statistics from the education departments of the annexed territories, 64% of primary schoolchildren in the Russian-controlled part of the Kherson region, and 46% of schoolchildren in the annexed part of the Zaporozhye region, took Ukrainian as their second and “native” language.

– What will you give your teachers for Teacher’s Day?

– We have prepared a comic performance by children and parents “Let’s be friends with schools.” This continues the theme that it would be nice for schools in the annexed territories to unite to exchange experiences and teaching aids. At least via the Internet. Because volunteers brought one thing in abundance to one school, and something else to another. For example, they sent us so much stationery that we are ready to exchange books for extracurricular reading in Russian.