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- Doesn't want to become a millionaire: how to make the Zemsky Uchitel program more effective
Doesn't want to become a millionaire: how to make the Zemsky Uchitel program more effective
The Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation stated that out of 599 vacancies opened under the Zemsky Uchitel program, 374 have already been closed. However, experts note that it should be said not "already", but "everything" — unfortunately, the program, which initially aroused serious interest, no longer attracts teachers as before. The main reason is that the amounts paid (2 million for the Far Eastern Federal District regions and 1 million for all others) have never been indexed, and other support measures are insufficient. Izvestia investigated how to increase the attractiveness of rural work for teachers.
How many teachers became "zemstvo" teachers
The Ministry of Education told about a family from the Moscow region who moved to the city of Shenkursk in the Arkhangelsk region under the Zemsky Uchitel program. Grigory and Raisa Valkin began teaching Russian language, literature, and mathematics at a local school. According to the program, they must work there for at least five years so that they do not have to repay the money they received. The Ministry of Education does not specify whether there was a competition for their places, but indicates that in Russia as a whole, "374 out of 599 vacancies have already been closed according to the results of the competitive selection."
Zemsky Uchitel has been implemented since 2020, and as part of the Youth and Children national project, the program has been extended until 2030. In the early years, it was popular: in February 2021, it was reported that in 2020, 32,000 applications were submitted for 1,803 vacancies, and the competition was 17 people per place.
Gradually, the number of vacancies decreased, as did the interest in them. In just five years (from 2020 to 2024), about 6.3 thousand teachers have moved to work in villages. In 2025, the least amount of funds was planned for the project — 599.4 million rubles — but by the beginning of the school year, only 62% of vacancies had been filled.
In 2026-2027, the program plans to close more than 3,000 teacher vacancies, with 1.3 billion rubles each planned for this purpose.
It should be noted that in 2020, and today, the "zemsky" teacher can expect to receive a payment of 1 million rubles. Those who are going to teach in the Far East — for 2 million rubles. Regions can add their own benefits to this: for housing, utility bills, etc.
In the spring of 2024, the Ministry of Education proposed doubling the lump sum payment for work in the village, but it did not go beyond the project. The increase to 2 million rubles affected only the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions. Soon, the same amount will be paid for the relocation of teachers to the border regions of Kursk, Bryansk and Belgorod.
Izvestia sent a request to the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation.
How do teachers decide to participate in the program
However, a program of socio-economic support for teachers, similar to the federal one, existed in a number of regions before. So, in the Nizhny Novgorod region, it was possible to become a "zemstvo" teacher from 2005 to 2016. One of its participants was the current chairman of the Teacher trade union, Dmitry Kazakov.
— After graduation, the graduate had to return to his native district or go to another rural school in the region, for which he received a car and housing where he worked, — he told Izvestia. — The car and housing were issued on credit, but the payments were taken over by the Ministry of Social Support of the Nizhny Novgorod region.
According to the program, he had to work for 10 years. Instead of an apartment, it was possible to choose the construction of a house at the expense of the administration — and over the years of the program, noticeable blocks of the same type of teacher's houses appeared on the outskirts of district centers in the Nizhny Novgorod region.
— Then quite a lot of young specialists moved to the villages. The program became popular when it became clear that people were really being given an apartment and a car," says Dmitry Kazakov. — But at the same time, the optimization of schools began: there were not enough hours, and a small workload meant a small salary.
As a result, often, as soon as the specialist's term of service ended, he left his district school.
Elena Mukhortova, a senior lecturer at the Financial University, never got to work in the village, although she had a desire to do so. In 2023, she was seriously considering moving to the Tula region, especially against the background of still fresh memories of the Covid-19 pandemic, which turned out to be much easier to survive in the village than in Moscow. 1 million rubles of support seemed to be an important incentive.
"But I met a doctor, a young woman with two children, who, as it turned out, had moved to the village from Moscow under a similar Zemsky Doktor program," the source tells Izvestia. — She wanted to live in the countryside in the fresh air, raise children, have goats, rabbits, and a bird. But she needed a guaranteed job in her specialty. With the million they received, she and her husband bought a house in the village, but they no longer had enough money for repairs and improvements — they had to take out a loan.
Svetlana Mukhortova did not decide to move at that time, but concluded for herself that the main thing was the desire to live in rural areas. A million rubles may strengthen this desire, but it will not be the root cause. She believes that the amount of the lump sum payment should correspond to the cost of a new car, without which it is difficult in the village, and the local administration should provide housing for the entire term of the contract.
Composer and music teacher Semyon Krivenko-Adamov wanted to become a "zemstvo" teacher back in 2020, but faced bureaucratic difficulties: at that time, he, a resident of the DPR, which had not yet entered the Russian Federation, could not collect a complete set of documents and was refused. Later, such an opportunity did appear, even an offer was received from the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, but Semyon had already chosen a different life path.
— Now the incentive payment of 1 million rubles sounds mocking, because for this money in the conditional Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug you can't even buy 10 square meters. m. The program involves either ideological philanthropic teachers with an educational and cultural mission, or those who have nowhere else to go. I believe that the payment should be made based on the cost of housing in the region," he said.
The press service of the Empathy Charitable Foundation also notes that 1 million rubles does not give a serious salary increase if divided over five years. And positive examples are also associated primarily not with people's monetary motivation, but with their inner willingness to move.
— When we launched the monthly payment program in the small village of Topolnoye in the Altai Territory this fall, we met a teacher from Ryazan who had long dreamed of living in Altai and, thanks to the payment under the Zemsky Uchitel program, persuaded her family to move.
Starting this year, she will also receive an additional 15,000 rubles per month from the Empathy Foundation — this is an example when the third sector also contributes to teachers' salaries. For five years now, the Foundation has been paying 15,000 rubles a month to absolutely all teachers of Verkhnyaya and Nizhnyaya Salda in the Sverdlovsk region, considering long-term support to be important.
What do teachers want?
Experts interviewed by Izvestia agree that the data announced by the Ministry of Education on the closure of vacancies in the Zemsky Uchitel program is rather low. Tatyana Kupriyanova, deputy chairman of the All-Russian Trade Union of Education, notes that it is important to take into account other figures in statistics: how many out of 6.3 thousand. The people accepted under the federal program stayed to work in rural schools, how many of them left after returning the money, as well as how many of them will leave remote areas after the first five years of the program.
Boris Ilyukhin, a senior researcher at the Center for Economics of Continuing Education at the Presidential Academy, notes the limited effect of the Zemsky Uchitel program — against the background of a large-scale shortage of teachers, this is more of a point solution than a way to reverse the situation as a whole.
Tatiana Kupriyanova notes that, according to official data, as of September 20, 2024, there were 6,547 vacant positions in rural schools, and 18,287 in urban institutions. However, the express monitoring of the trade union, conducted before the start of this academic year, showed that only in 37 regions of the country there were 16.5 thousand workers. vacancies without division into rural and urban schools. Therefore, the announced figures, she says, "certainly raise questions."
According to the expert, the housing issue is now the decisive factor for moving. Teachers are also interested in the possibility of placing their children in preschool institutions, paying for relocation and accessibility of cultural leisure.
Monitoring of social support measures for teachers in different regions, conducted by the trade union, showed that only 64 regions of the Russian Federation offered assistance in improving housing conditions for teachers in 2024, and in some there was more than one program. In 16 regions, this is mortgage assistance — preferential rates, partial compensation for the down payment or reimbursement of part of the cost of paying interest. There are subsidies for the purchase and construction of housing in 32 regions of the Russian Federation. In 35 regions, teachers in need of better housing conditions were provided with office apartments — if there is a housing stock — on social rental terms for the period of work at the school. Dorm rooms were provided in 29 regions of the Russian Federation. Commercial rental of residential premises was partially or completely compensated in 38 regions. In 24 regions, land plots were allocated either at a discounted price or free of charge.
— The figures show that new system solutions are needed in this area. Unfortunately, they are accepted infrequently, mainly in individual municipalities, where there are more funds and interested leadership," said Tatiana Kupriyanova.
Nikolay Makhnev, Director of the Rural Schools of the Russian Federation project, suggests combining the Zemsky Uchitel project with other programs for housing construction, car purchase, etc.
But in any case, the most important factor, Tatiana Kupriyanova emphasizes, remains remuneration. According to her, in only 10-11 regions of the country, teacher rates are at or slightly above the minimum wage level — and this is despite the requirement of the law! And given the low salaries, the idea of working as a teacher is often deterred by poor relations with school leaders, parents, and negative examples in the media, says Boris Ilyukhin.
Tatyana Kupriyanova has high hopes for the new instructions of the President of the Russian Federation, which he approved on September 16 following a July meeting with members of the government. In particular, starting in 2027, payments to program participants in the Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk regions will be increased to 2 million rubles. Age restrictions will be lifted, and those who have returned to work at school in their native village, and not just visiting specialists, will be able to participate in the program. In addition, the conditions for granting mortgage loans for the construction or purchase of housing for the program participants will be analyzed.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
