The State Duma Committee on Education approved spending on education for the next three years

Yesterday, the State Duma Committee on Education approved spending on education for the next three years. In 2024, it is proposed to increase this line of the federal budget by 137 billion rubles; the state program “Development of Education” will also receive 20 billion rubles. more. The head of the Ministry of Education, Sergei Kravtsov, said that when drawing up the budget, “the possible maximum was allocated in the current conditions.” He noted that all the main projects – hot meals in primary schools, the introduction of the position of educational advisers, bonuses for classroom management, overhaul of schools and the construction of new ones and the development of secondary vocational education – will be successfully continued. The deputies expressed gratitude for this approach, stating that “there is no extra money for education.”

On Wednesday, members of the State Duma Committee on Education discussed with Sergei Kravtsov the draft federal budget for 2024 and for the planning period 2025–2026. Next year, spending on education is planned to increase by 137 billion rubles – they will amount to 1 trillion 546 billion rubles. And 575 billion rubles will be spent on the state program “Development of Education” – which is 20 billion more than in 2023. Nevertheless, the share of education in total federal budget expenditures in 2024 will decrease from 4.8% to 4.2%.

Mr. Kravtsov, however, assured the deputies that the project “provides for all the necessary amounts of funds for the implementation of the state program and, in general, for the development of the main areas of work.” He included the construction and overhaul of schools, hot meals in primary schools, additional payments to teachers for classroom management, the development of new regions and secondary vocational education (SVE) as such areas. The minister also said that additional funds were allocated for the creation of the position of education advisers in secondary vocational education (since 2023, all Russian schools have them). Sergei Kravtsov explained that “education is one of the key areas in the information war that is being waged against our country today.” He believes counselors will be able to provide students with additional motivation by creating a “positive environment.” According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, where such advisers appeared, there were 15% fewer offenses, Mr. Kravtsov said.

However, the auditor of the Accounts Chamber, Dmitry Zaitsev, drew attention to the fact that the draft budget leads to underfunding of the “Professionality” program, which is developing precisely the SVE system. He recalled that “according to the president’s instructions, we must train a million specialists in five years,” and without sufficient funds, “we risk not completing the task.” Mr. Zaitsev expressed hope that the funds will be redistributed by the second reading.

The head of the Education Committee, Olga Kazakova (ER), said that “the budget items reflect the requests that ordinary people address to deputies.” She added that the budget has room to grow, because “there is no extra money for education.” Her deputy Alena Arshinova (ER) admitted that “I was afraid to look at the draft budget, since we now have a difficult economic situation due to sanctions and the need to develop new regions.” But in the end, the budget pleasantly surprised Mrs. Arshinova, for which she thanked the Ministry of Education.

Another deputy head of the committee, Yana Lantratova (SRZP), said that teachers from remote settlements involved in checking the Unified State Examination and Unified State Examination have repeatedly complained to her that they spend personal funds on travel to the testing sites that exceed the amount of payments for the testing itself. Therefore, Mrs. Lantratova asked to pay travel expenses for such teachers. At the same time, she proposed introducing an analogue of the “Pushkin Card” for teachers: “A teacher’s card is needed so that they have the opportunity to attend cultural events with their children for free, and not collect pennies from parents.”

Member of the Education Committee Elvira Aitkulova (ER) recalled the shortage of teaching staff: “We are talking about renovating schools, but soon there will be no one to work in these schools. We are waiting for measures from the entire government to increase the attractiveness of this profession, primarily by increasing salaries.”

“I have no doubt that the ministry did everything possible within the framework of the proposed budget, but I will abstain from voting, because the budget framework itself was determined on the basis of deeply erroneous ideas about the financial policy of the duo of the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank,” MP Anatoly Wasserman (SRZP) expressed his dissenting opinion ).—Many sources of income are prohibited by this totalitarian sect of liberals in the economic bloc, as they are afraid that this will strengthen the position of our country.”

Before the vote, the head of the committee, Olga Kazakova, warned her colleagues: “If we do not support this project, there will be no hot meals, payments to class teachers, educational advisers, and what people believe in.” As a result, the draft budget was supported by the Education Committee almost unanimously – one person abstained.

Polina Yachmennikova