Wardrobe battle: a child was injured in a stampede at a Vladivostok school
At school No. 9 in Vladivostok, there was a crush in the wardrobe, as a result of which children were injured. Initially, "dozens" of injuries were reported, but only one injury was confirmed. However, the incident, as it turned out, is not the first time — and not only in this school. Unfortunately, in many schools, children simply do not have enough space, especially in non—teaching rooms. Izvestia investigated how widespread this problem is and what to do about it.
What is known about the stampede at school in Vladivostok
The incident at school No. 9 with an in-depth study of the Chinese language on Pushkinskaya Street became known on Wednesday, November 19. It was claimed that dozens of children were "injured" in the "mass crush" in the cramped locker room: allegedly, one girl had a crack in her rib, others had dislocations and back injuries. The reason was the discrepancy between the room area and the number of students.
The department for work with municipal educational institutions in Vladivostok reported that they would demand explanations from the students who provoked the crush, the director and the teachers who allowed it. All the perpetrators will be "brought to justice strictly within the framework of the law." At the same time, the department did not confirm information about serious multiple injuries. Later it turned out that one schoolgirl was injured: she had a dislocated ankle and a bruise.
The law enforcement agencies started checking. The prosecutor's office of Primorsky Krai reported that the cause of the incident was "the simultaneous end of lessons for a large number of students." The prosecutor's office believes that school officials did not take "necessary measures to ensure the safety of students."
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Vladivostok is also conducting an inspection. The principal of the school has already informed the police that "these incidents regularly occur near the cloakroom" in the institution.
The SU IC for the Primorsky Territory also conducts its own check.
The story of a schoolboy who witnessed the events also appeared online. According to him, the incident occurred after the 6th lesson. Children crowded around the entrance to the locker room, trying to pick up their jackets and go home, but they were prevented by other students and a female janitor. At first, she began to let the children through in small groups so that they could find their jackets and go out. Because of this, schoolchildren crowded into the corridor, the crush led to falls of some of them. The eyewitness account confirms the information that one of the girls was taken to the emergency room.
In addition, it is indicated that the room selected for the locker room is "very small."
Which school was the scene of the stampede
In the same student's comment, it is claimed that the educational institution has serious repair problems: "plaster is falling, mold is everywhere, cockroaches are running around." This is also mentioned in the reviews of the school on one of the websites: "The school is still in disrepair, plaster is falling." And some point to problems with the wardrobe, where "jackets are lost." In April, the Network reported that the school "lacks full-fledged repairs, and there has already been an incident with a ceiling collapse." It was pointed out that the repair work is carried out at minimal cost and of poor quality.
It should be noted that the school is located in a historic building built in 1901-1903. It used to be a girls' gymnasium of the Ministry of Public Education. It is an object of cultural heritage of the Russian Federation. In 1923, the gymnasium was transformed into a nine-year-old school, and since 1931 it has been school No. 9.
Irina Abankina, a professor at the HSE Institute of Education, notes that, as a rule, buildings at the beginning of the century can meet modern standards in terms of space, ceiling height, and illumination — they were not built in a situation of mass education, they tried to build "significant buildings" for urban schools.
— Nevertheless, the approval of any reconstructions in such buildings is an extremely difficult process, — said the interlocutor of Izvestia. — These are always unique, not typical buildings. And they need to ensure the proper use of the premises: with the division of school flows by time, with the accompaniment of children. We need competent modern spatial solutions. It's a realistic thing to do.
Known cases of stampede in schools
The incident at School No. 9 in Vladivostok is not unique. A month ago, it was reported about a stampede near the locker room at school No. 1 in the village of Volno-Nadezhdinskoye, Primorsky Krai: then the students also went to get outerwear at the same time. No one was injured, but some of the children's personal belongings and clothes were damaged.
In October, a stampede near the wardrobe occurred at school No. 548 in Moscow. The headmaster explained this by saying that the new guard did not open the second door, and the streams of incoming and outgoing students collided with each other. None of the children were injured.
Similar incidents are known at Rostov Lyceum No. 71 and school No. 181 in Yekaterinburg. At the end of September, investigators conducted an inspection due to a stampede at an Irkutsk school, and in mid-September, problems were reported in Volgograd, where some students tried to leave school after the first shift, and the second could not enter. There are 2.8 thousand children enrolled in school No. 55, designed for 1 thousand places. Moreover, last academic year, a training evacuation was carried out at the same school — and this also provoked a stampede.
Anna Skroznikova, a member of the State Duma Committee on Education, believes that mass stampedes in schools are "quite rare," although these cases are not unique.
— Each such incident causes a serious reaction, inspections and revision of organizational processes, — said the interlocutor of Izvestia. — At the same time, it cannot be denied that such risks exist in old buildings designed for much smaller student flows. Especially at times of mass arrival or departure of children. And if the premises cannot objectively cope with the load, it can really affect the school's ability to effectively organize an evacuation.
She emphasizes that such incidents should not be a reason to look for the culprits, but the basis for updating approaches to the organization of school space.
Why are there stampedes in schools
Irina Abankina calls the problem serious, emphasizing that they are more common in old schools.
— With regard to corridors, recreation, toilets, the construction was carried out with a very economical approach. Therefore, the areas of the corridors and locker rooms, when children go out there en masse, are in a certain sense areas that pose a threat of danger," she said. — That's why we were fed in shifts, and events on different levels of education were also held in the assembly hall.
She emphasizes that it is quite difficult to redo something now. In the new snips, for example, the width of the stairs is 120 cm, but previously they could be made 90 cm. There is no way to fix typical stairwells.
Srbui Mandzhieva, a leading lawyer at the European Legal Service, says that the requirements for school buildings are now spelled out in a set of rules approved in 2016. It stipulates that the dressing rooms should be located near the main entrance, divided into zones for elementary, primary and high schools, with a separate cell for each classroom group. The wardrobe area per person is at least 0.15 square meters. m, there are recommendations on the distance between the hangers.
There are requirements for the wardrobe area and sanitary regulations. Moreover, the range of permissible temperature, relative humidity, air velocity, etc. must also be taken into account. d.
Srbui Mandzhieva points out that facilities commissioned before the documents came into force are allowed to be operated in accordance with the approved design documentation according to which they were built.
Inspections of schools are carried out by Rospotrebnadzor, which checks, among other things, the area of the premises based on the number of children.
— If you look at judicial practice, the prosecutor's office usually issues an order and obliges the organization to eliminate the identified violations, and schools most often declare it impossible to comply with the orders for various reasons, mainly due to lack of funding, — said the lawyer.
Anna Skroznikova notes that formally in Russia there are strict standards for corridors, changing rooms, canteens and other rooms.
— Modern schools, as a rule, meet these requirements, but a significant part of the school fund was built decades ago, when the number of students was different and the infrastructure requirements were simpler, — she said. — Therefore, in a number of schools, the room can be considered normative "on paper", but it can be too cramped under real load. This leads to difficult situations during rush hours, which formal checks do not always reveal.
Problems often turn out to be related to the fact that some schools are overcrowded, while others have idle facilities, Irina Abankina said.
— Demographic waves are very significant. Sometimes schools were built literally next to each other in the largest cities, because there were a lot of young families in the new neighborhoods. And then, during the demographic wave in the 90s, there weren't even enough children for one school, let alone two," she noted.
According to her, we are now facing a demographic decline again until 2030 inclusive, which means that there will be a noticeable decrease in the number of schoolchildren again.
— It is already noticeable in the first grades and kindergartens — they are not growing in size in accordance with the standard capacity, — said the expert. — In fact, this can be regarded as a respite in order to prepare for more serious decisions on school overcrowding and the reconstruction of schools in accordance with the new SNIPS and SanPiNs.
In the meantime, says Anna Skroznikova, organizational solutions are helping: the distribution of flows, different entrances for age groups, the use of individual lockers instead of a common dressing room, adjusting the schedule of arrival and departure, etc.
Izvestia sent inquiries to the administration of Vladivostok, the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation and Rospotrebnadzor.
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