Has the word "teacher" long been a dirty word? Why do Russian teachers get a penny with an irregular working day?

Now in our country there are so few teachers that the Ministry of Education of Russia has launched a hotline that will allow school principals to quickly find teachers in their educational institutions. True, experts warn that there will be little sense from this undertaking. It's simple: even finding a teacher, the school principal is unlikely to be able to offer him an acceptable salary and working conditions.

The number of teachers in Russia has been falling for the fifth year in a row. As the speaker of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin noted, referring to the data of the Accounts Chamber, now about 30% of teachers are missing in our country. According to the Ministry of Education, the number of teachers in the primary and secondary education system has been declining since 2020. The Teacher trade union believes that the shortage of teachers can reach hundreds of thousands of people.

The reason for this state of secrecy is not. The head of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko was outraged by the financial distress of teachers. "The salary of a young teacher is not just not competitive, it is impossible to support a family. In big cities, the salary of a pizza delivery man is 130 thousand, while a young teacher has plus or minus 25 thousand, "she said.

According to the chairman of the Teacher trade union, school leaders know this very well. However, they can do nothing about the poverty of teachers. Despite numerous statements and decrees, the real income of teachers does not increase or rises slightly. As a result, in order to "help financially" the teacher is trying to "load" him with even more hours.

It is clear that in this way teachers have to work with great stress. To survive, a physics or mathematics teacher is forced to take two or three bets. That is, to work for two or even for three, explains the chairman of the trade union "Teacher." According to him, not so long ago the load of one and a half rates was considered high. Now, when applying for a job in the Moscow region, the teacher is immediately offered a two-rate load plus classroom guidance. And this is in the capital, where the salaries of school teachers are considered very "decent."

With a constant shortage of teachers, schools are "getting out" as best they can. In rural educational institutions, this resembles a theatrical "skit," where the same person plays several different roles. Most often, the duties of the absent teacher are performed by other teachers, often of a completely different specialty. For example, a mathematics teacher in rural schools may be instructed to teach, in addition to his subject, physics, geography, as well as chemistry with biology.

More than others, regional schools lack foreign language teachers. The "alignment" here is simple: having mastered, for example, English, such a specialist can easily find a position in commercial structures. Meanwhile, for example, a geography teacher will be hired for low-skilled office work at best. In addition, there is simply no one to replace a foreign language teacher at school.

In fact, in small towns and villages, schools rely on teachers of pre-retirement age, who, unfortunately, are used to putting up with a small salary. But when an elderly teacher retires, it is simply impossible to find a replacement for him. It seems that there are no graduates of pedagogical universities left in the country who are ready to move their cities to the village and work with huge loads for a beggarly salary.

The idea of ​ ​ forcibly distributing graduates to rural schools, as it was in the USSR, failed at the discussion stage. First of all, in accordance with the current legislative, no one has the right to force a young specialist to "work out" his diploma. In addition, graduates of pedagogical institutes do not go to work in their specialty at all. Even if individual romantics become teachers, they quit very quickly, because of difficult working conditions, low wages and high workload.

The situation in schools must be said separately. In the regions, most of the school buildings have not been repaired for a long time. The linoleum on the floors has long worn out, the walls and doors have peeled off. Due to the dilapidated heating system, they are cold. If most of the problems with school furniture have recently been resolved, then modern equipment and allowances in schools are still lacking. In addition, general lack of money drives people into stress. Therefore, the teaching staff often resembles the classic "can of spiders".

It cannot be said that officials did not try to correct the situation with teacher poverty. Judging by the reports of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance, average salaries in schools are constantly growing. Moreover, last fall, the Constitutional Court ruled that the bulk of the salary should be "stretched" to the minimum wage, and there is no need to dump all the teacher's overload. As a result, in September 2024, teachers added 25% to their salaries. True, this practically did not affect the total amount.

The salary consists of a small salary, a huge overload, and the so-called compensation payments. They pay for checking notebooks, for managing offices, for class leadership.

Moreover, the size of these surcharges depends on the school and regional authorities.

In Moscow or St. Petersburg, incentive payments can be a very decent amount. Rural teachers are often "satisfied" with a penny. It so happens that teachers do not receive incentive payments at all. The fund itself probably exists, but the teachers practically do not get anything there. As a result, teachers complain that they have to conduct free consultations, for example, preparation for exams, although all this should be paid from the incentive fund.

According to statistics, the official average salary of a Russian teacher in 2024 was 71.4 thousand rubles. How similar is this to the truth, given the information that the Teacher union receives from the regions? If we add up the salaries of teachers in the Moscow region and Moscow, the regions of the Far North and, for example, the Republic of Mari El, we get a typical "average temperature in the hospital." There is a huge gap between the salaries of rich regions and the capital and the salaries of subsidized regions.

In one of his interviews, the head of the Teacher trade union told a typical story. Once a young graduate of a pedagogical university received a salary and cried. According to her, she worked in two shifts to get 20 thousand. "I studied so much, I tried so hard to have that kind of money," she said. A young teacher came to work at school. How long can she stay there?

According to the head of the Ministry of Education Sergei Kravtsov, a new wage system is being developed, and in three regions it will be tested from September 1. Now, according to the new system, 70% of the salary will be paid as a basic part, and 30% will be incentive payments that can be set by the school.

It is likely that this experimental order will slightly improve the position of Russian teachers. But you shouldn't expect a miracle from her. As the head of the trade union "Teacher" says, the whole educational policy should change. It's really not just about money, but you can't do it without money. The best should go to pedagogical universities, and not according to the principle "I didn't go anywhere, I'll go to the ped." At the same time, respect for the teaching profession should be not only in words.