Wow: why did children start undressing for exams again
In the Sverdlovsk region, two ninth-grade graduates who came to take the basic state exam (OGE) were forced to strip down to their underwear and prove that they had no prohibited items, local media reported. But the administration of the school where the incident occurred stated that no one forced the students to undress — the student was only offered to go to a separate office and confirm the absence of a phone. At the same time, the regulations on the exam do not provide for any inspection procedures, Rosobrnadzor noted after a similar scandal in the Voronezh Region in 2024. About why such stories have become regular, see the Izvestia article.
What happened on the exam
Another scandal involving students undressing during exams broke out in the Sverdlovsk region. In the city of Polevskoye, during the OGE, a metal detector rang when a ninth-grade student was passing through it. The girl was offered to go to a separate office and prove that she was not hiding a phone or other prohibited items under her clothes, eyewitnesses said.
Another student was also unable to pass through the frame unhindered — the metal detector went off in the groin area. To calm the inspectors, the young man was forced to take off his trousers, local media reported.
At the same time, the students of this school complained about the organization of the exam in general — due to a printer malfunction, there were problems with printing assignments, and this delayed the entire procedure for 40 minutes. Then the extra sheets for practical assignments ran out, which prevented some of the examinees from completing their work.
At first, the media reported that the incident with the inspection occurred at school No. 16, but its director, Yulia Trushkova, told Izvestia that it was about another school in this city, No. 1. The students of the 16th school took the exam there.
"The child's metal detector went off, and she was asked to demonstrate the absence of prohibited items, in particular, a phone, in a room separate from the other children," the school principal said. — A member of the state examination committee was convinced of this, and the child calmly went to the exam. There was no such thing as children being stripped of their bras and pants or being forced to do it.
According to Yulia Trushkova, the student was examined not by a man, but by a woman. The girl did not consider this something out of the ordinary and did not tell the teachers about it, but shared it in a conversation with a friend. No complaints have been received from the parents about the incident.
The director added that the girl had no complaints about the incident.
Yulia Trushkova assured that this was an isolated incident during the exams, the rest of the children, according to her, went through the framework normally. The principal did not confirm the case of another student.
— Now all the information has been received, brought to the head of the Department of Education, — said the director. — All the guilty will be punished.
Where else were they stripped for exams
This is not the first scandal that has erupted around the passing of the state final certification.
In May 2024, at Voronezh school No. 62, 11th graders who came to the Unified State Exam could not pass the metal detector unhindered. The security guards forced her to strip down to her underwear.
At that time, a video from surveillance cameras was posted on the Internet, as one of the schoolgirls at the entrance, at the request of the guard, lifts up her shirt, showing her bra. This gesture was meant to confirm that the girl did not have any metal objects with her that she was trying to bring with her to the exam.
Other schoolgirls told Izvestia that the metal detector was apparently broken and beeping at absolutely everyone. Therefore, many girls were forced to go outside and take off their bras, which, according to the guards, they could hide their phones in.
Representatives of the school denied the students' stories at that time, but the prosecutor's office joined the situation, where the parents wrote statements. The head of the Ministry of Education, Sergei Kravtsov, also said that the schoolgirls were not forced to undress during the inspection.
In May of the same year, a similar incident occurred in the village of Yalchiki in Chuvashia. Then, according to the parents, the students were required to take off their belts, pull up their shirts, and were not allowed to stay in the toilet for more than 30 seconds. The prosecutor's office has organized an investigation into the incident. The official proceedings were also initiated by the Ministry of Education of the Chuvash Republic.
What the teachers say
At the request of Izvestia, the Teacher trade union interviewed teachers about whether they receive instructions on the possibility of inspection at exam sites, and if so, which ones.
"Neither guards nor teachers have the right to conduct a personal search," wrote one of the survey participants. — If the metal detector worked, they offered to lay out all the metal objects and check again. What does cheat sheets have to do with it, much less undressing?"
"Inspection is prohibited," another teacher shared. "Isn't it easier to draw up a non-admission certificate if the frame rings three times? Why these inspections, inspections, conflicts?" — teachers are perplexed.
And another participant noted that he had not received any instructions on what to do when the metal detector rings.
But in general, the respondents reacted quite negatively to the situation, outraged that, once again, "teachers everywhere are to blame."
"Let's not let teachers work as organizers, perhaps it will be better for everyone," one of the teachers wrote.
Another participant in the survey believes that in such cases, everything happens because "the children wanted to attract attention to themselves, once again to show themselves, but the teachers were blamed, as always."
"I am currently taking part in exams and watching the children. It's getting scary for this generation. Not all children are like that, but most of them are," the woman wrote.
Earlier, Izvestia named the regions where teachers receive the lowest pay per day of work at the state final assessment (these include the OGE and the Unified State Exam). In 17 regions of Russia, it amounts to 120-300 rubles for a full-time job in the classroom; outside of it, compensation may be less.
What the authorities are offering
After the situation in the Voronezh Region, the head of the Federal Service for Supervision of Education and Science, Anzor Muzaev, said in an interview with Izvestia that the USE procedure was prescribed by the regulations and there was no provision for any inspection of schoolchildren.
"The regulations do not provide for any special rooms at the exam sites. If such rooms appear and such an inspection takes place, it is lawlessness. The search should be punished by law," he said.
Anzor Muzaev reminded that all exam participants have the opportunity to write a complaint to the regional education authority or to the Rosobrnadzor hotline. Also, according to him, everyone can become public observers during the exam.
In particular, the methodological recommendations of Rosobrnadzor for the GIA and for 2024 state that organizers outside the classroom (these are teachers who do not work in classrooms during the exam, but meet and accompany students) should not touch participants and their belongings, should ask them to voluntarily show an object that triggers a portable metal detector signal, and pass Transfer all prohibited items to a place for storing personal belongings or to an accompanying person.
At the same time, the concept of inspection appears separately in the methodological recommendations for 2025 — for the first time since the publication of such Rosobrnadzor documents.
"Attention: examination of exam participants is not allowed," the recommendations for this year say. This is followed by the same wording about the prohibition of touching schoolchildren and the request to voluntarily hand over prohibited items.
Izvestia sent a request to Rosobrnadzor with a request to comment on the information about the situation in the Sverdlovsk region and to inform what instructions teachers should receive at the exam sites.
In order to avoid such incidents, last year the deputies proposed to amend the rules of the unified state exam, Oleg Smolin, first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Education, reminded Izvestia.
— The people who are responsible for the Unified State Exam act strictly according to the instructions, but it does not say how to act if the metal detector rings, — said the deputy. — It only says that such students should not be allowed to take the exam. Our suggestion was not to humiliate the graduate with searches, but only to warn that he would be under special supervision during the exam. I still recommend that teachers do exactly that.
But this offer did not pass.
According to Rosobrnadzor, in 2025, more than 1.6 million ninth graders will take the OGE in the main period. According to the Ministry of Education, 712 thousand graduates participate in the USE, of which 637.5 thousand are 11th graders (graduates of previous years also take the USE).
It is too early to talk about the regularity of such incidents, Oleg Smolin believes.
— While there is only one such case, it means that this is an excess of the performer, who does not dare to make another decision and follows the instructions until he loses consciousness, — said the deputy.
The unified State exam is not just an important stage in a child's life, but also a kind of watershed between "today" and "tomorrow," Tatyana Butskaya, first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Family Protection, Fatherhood, Motherhood and Childhood.
"But it's important to follow the rules and be sure that everything is fair," she said.
The rules should be clear, understandable and humane, without obvious excesses, the deputy added.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
