From dawn to dusk: Russia is going to extend the work of kindergartens
After the direct line, when President Vladimir Putin approved the idea of extending the opening hours of kindergartens for the convenience of parents, an active discussion began about the possibility of extending the stay of children in preschool institutions. The Civic Chamber called for extending the work of kindergartens until 20:00. Izvestia investigated whether the additional burden on employees would be paid for and how this would affect children.
How do they propose to extend the work of kindergartens
Natalia Moskvitina, Deputy Chairman of the Commission of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation on demography, protection of family, children and traditional family values, said that the existing kindergarten schedule is outdated and does not meet the needs of working parents.
"The garden should be open until eight o'clock in the evening, absolutely. It doesn't have to be local educators, but at least nannies and junior staff should ensure the safety of the child and his ability to stay outside the home," Moskvitina said.
Sergey Rybalchenko, Chairman of the Public Chamber's commission on demography, protection of family, children and traditional family values, explained in an interview with Izvestia that it was not a question of extending the work of all groups until 20:00. We are talking about creating separate groups that work within the framework of extended day groups, including in schools.
"This is still the case in many kindergartens: it's just that children from one group move to another, and there's nothing wrong with children of different ages ending up together," the source told Izvestia.
The discussion unfolded after a direct line with the president, when Vladimir Putin noted that "it is necessary to increase the number of hours when a child is in kindergarten or in a nursery." He stressed that this decision would require the introduction of new rates and an increase in the number of educators.
How kindergartens work now
Larisa Solodilova, chairman of the All-Russian Trade Union of Education, explained to Izvestia that now the working hours of preschool educational organizations are set by their founder: 10-hour, 12-hour or round-the-clock. If necessary, the charter may already provide for the right to organize groups on duty to increase the time spent by children in kindergarten.
"When organizing such groups, the requirements for compliance with established standards of working hours for educators and other employees of preschool organizations are taken into account within the limits of financial resources allocated by the founder or with the involvement of interested parents' own funds," she told Izvestia.
Olga Miryasova, the organizational secretary of the Teacher trade union, noted that kindergartens in the regions are most often open from 06:00 to 18:00, in Moscow from 07:00 to 19:00. The extension to 20:00 means that the regions would have to increase the opening hours by two hours, and the capital by one.
— Of course, the schedule from 06:00 to 21:00 would be convenient for parents, since people work in shifts, around the clock, with a 12-hour working day, etc. There is a duty to pick up the child before the end of kindergarten. Although, formally, the teacher does not have the right to leave the workplace without giving the child back, and no one will pay extra for processing," she told Izvestia.
Olga Miryasova agrees that the task can be solved by creating duty groups that include both "early" and "late" children. The main problem may be the organization of meals, as in many regions dinners for children are not provided. Then the budget will have to pay extra not only to educators and junior staff, but also to cooks.
Sergey Rybalchenko believes that it will be necessary to increase the corresponding budget expenditures. He said that calculations are currently being carried out in the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, and so far the figures have not been announced. However, given that the number of children in kindergartens is decreasing, it may be possible to simply redistribute budget funds and workload among employees by creating flexible schedules for educators.
—Previously, 40% of kindergartens were attached to enterprises, so they necessarily took into account the working hours of employees," he noted. — Now, basically all kindergartens have been transferred to municipal ownership. The development of other forms of preschool education in cooperation with enterprises would give us much more opportunities: then enterprises will be able to help extended groups function. In return, the government could provide preferential investment regimes for such enterprises.
How caregivers work
It follows from the annual report of the Government of the Russian Federation on the implementation of state policy in the field of education that in 2024, almost 6.4 million children were enrolled in preschool education. Their number has been consistently decreasing — by 622.9 thousand people since 2022.
637.4 thousand people worked in kindergartens, their number decreased by 14.8 thousand in 2024.
State Duma deputy, head of the NGO "Educators of Russia" Larisa Tutova noted that kindergarten teachers have a reduced working time — no more than 36 hours per week. If you increase the teacher's working day by one hour, the working week will increase to 41 hours, respectively. Then the payment should be increased in proportion to the actual amount of teaching work, she concludes.
— Therefore, we are talking about the burden on local budgets. This requires detailed study," the Izvestia interlocutor noted.
Larisa Tutova adds that the caregivers may not agree to this, because they are already overloaded.
— We are working hard to reduce the bureaucratic burden on the teacher, but at the same time we are ready to prolong his working day. There is no logic in this. This means that a new unit will have to be added to the staff at 0.15 of the rate. Will we find enough teachers? After all, even now there is a shortage of staff in kindergartens," Larisa Tutova noted.
Olga Miryasova noted that over the past few years, they have been trying to raise salaries in kindergartens not due to a real increase in the budget, but due to an increase in work intensity.
— If earlier, as a rule, there were three tutors for two groups who replaced each other (the tutor should be in the group for 11-12 hours, and the working day is 7.2 hours), now it is often one tutor per group, — she told Izvestia. — Sometimes there is a substitute tutor for a small part of the working time. They pay extra for processing, but the teachers get terribly tired, and the salary is still low. It is very difficult to be responsible for a group of 20-35 children for 10-11 hours.
Ekaterina, an educator from the Moscow Region, confirms that overwork in kindergartens is "catastrophic" due to a lack of staff - some educators already work in two shifts, combining their duties with those of younger educators. She notes that the burden of extra time will have to be borne by the educator working in the second shift, and the additional payment for this work must be decent for the employee to agree.
At the same time, Ekaterina notes, she does not observe a big problem: children usually begin to be sorted after 17:00 (the kindergarten is open until 19:00), and after 18:30 there are already a few left. Oksana, a teacher from Odintsovo, confirms this, but notes that if you extend the working hours to 20.00, then "there will definitely be parents who will come at eight o'clock in the evening." At the same time, "educators will work for pennies," she is sure. She noticed that the promised salary of 72 thousand rubles for one rate was not seen by the kindergarten staff — the rate is only 39 thousand rubles. rubles'.
How will this affect the children
Larisa Tutova notes that the most important thing in this situation is the physical and mental health of children. And extending the work of kindergartens until 20:00 may be harmful for them.
— Kids stay in a group of 25-30 children for more than 12 hours. It's hard for an adult too! It's a scheduled life, discipline, and noise. This can lead to stress and anxiety, which will generally affect the child's health. It is also important that the child has time to communicate with his parents and go to bed no later than 21:00-21:30. Two or three hours in the evening before going to bed, when you can chat with your child, is very important for both parents and children," she said.
Psychologist Yana Vlasova also noted that it is "very difficult for children to spend so much time outside the house." She emphasizes that when a child returns home after 20:00, he will not have time for high-quality communication with his parents.
— And the lack of communication with parents always reflects on some adult problems. This has long been a proven fact," she told Izvestia.
Educator Ekaterina, in turn, notes that in this sense, it is not necessary to leave children in kindergartens until the very night, but for mothers to change their work schedule so that they can communicate with their child.
Izvestia sent a request to the Ministry of Education.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
