There were rumors that the primary school in Shchelykovo was closed. The population was excited. Shchelykovo is a special place in the Kostroma region, not a village, not a city, but a settlement attached to the memorial museum of the playwright Ostrovsky and a sanatorium belonging to the Union of Theater Workers. There used to be a collective farm named after Ostrovsky, but now it does not exist. Everyone who currently works in Shchelykovo either works in the museum or in the sanatorium, there is also a post office, a police station, two specialty shops, a sawmill, a paramedic station and a kindergarten.
Well, the school where a teacher works is also the principal and also the cleaner. And now there are two students in the school. One is in the second grade and the other is in the third grade. Thus, the district administration decided that it was time to close the school, saving about 800 thousand rubles. per year (however, only 330 thousand rubles go to school from the municipal budget, the rest is provided by the regional and federal, but still savings). Children who go to kindergarten will now be able to go to another village 18 km by school bus. There are more children there, normal, albeit small classes will work with their peers. For young children moving to and from school, the daily fatigue only excites parents. It is a normal practice for the district, but what should be done? The population is aging, young people go to the city where there are no problems with school, work, entertainment. After the introduction of per capita financing, rural schools now need to be optimized.
Experts know what problems are associated with this: if the birth rate suddenly increases, the school will not reopen. And a village without a school becomes imperfect, and the young people who still remain leave it. By the way, where to find a job as a teacher is a question: In rural areas where people live from their homes, teachers’ mobility is very low.
But Shchelykovo, in addition to general problems, has its own characteristics. Elementary school named after him. A. Ostrovsky in the village of Shchelykovo has existed since 1899, the widow of the playwright Marya Vasilievna Ostrovskaya took part in its opening. Then the school was the zemstvo. It is known that in 1914 there were 19 boys and 12 girls, in 1915 – 31 students (18 and 13). There was also a teacher, the girl Pavla Nikolaevna Nevskaya, who was born in 1888, graduated from the Kostroma episcopal school, in which there were 6 classes. The teacher’s salary was 360 rubles. per year (and another 60 rubles were given for the maintenance of servants). The school building, as it is believed, was built by the Ostrovsky family and is still preserved in approximately the same form, instead of stove heating – the heat comes from the sanatorium gas boiler. There is no running water in the school, buckets of water are brought to the sink, but there is a toilet, there are two cabins with dry closets. In the old school, children were not given breakfast, now they are fed at the expense of the state, not in the school building, but in the cafeteria of the sanatorium.
The history of Zemstvo schools is a large part of the history of the development of local self-government in Russia. Before the formation of the zemstvos, there were few schools in the villages: state primary schools under the Ministry of State Property; narrow-minded, created at the expense of parishioners; Yes, special ones, if the hosts have a desire to deal with them (the most famous example is Leo Tolstoy, who opened the Yasnaya Polyana school and ran it at his own expense). But in the sixties, with the emergence of the Zemstvo, the situation began to change. The expenses of the schools were among the discretionary expenses, the zemstvo councils had to carry out military barracks, fire departments, road works, but the schools were optional. But there was a desire: the people then firmly believed in the usefulness of education, it was believed that with the letter the softening of humanity, morality would come to the peasants, and after it – the development of prosperity, culture and crafts. .
Education in Zemstvo schools was free, some taught for one year, some for two, but more often for three years. Writing, counting, reading, basic knowledge of natural sciences. And in some schools – also modern foreign languages, not ancient, as in gymnasiums. God’s law was mandatory, but if at first it was no more than two hours a week, then under the pressure of the Synod and with the approval of Tsar Alexander III, and then Nicholas II, the number of hours devoted to education was constantly increasing. However, the secular character of the zemstvo schools was preserved.
They also taught manual labor, handicrafts, many schools also had classes for adults, literacy schools, amateur theatrical performances, readings, painting shows with the help of a magic lantern were held. “night shelters” are organized in some places for children from distant villages; In the early 90s of the XIX century, some schools began to bring students to classes on rented horses. On the initiative of Zemstvo doctors, the idea of free breakfast appears through schools, where they provide financial assistance to poor students for clothes and shoes.
Curricula are being improved, new teaching methods are being developed. All this is not done at once, quickly and at great cost, not only some of the landlords, the priests, but also the peasants themselves resist enlightenment, believing that there is no benefit from school and that the children have something to do. do it at home. But over time, parents of young students began to believe in favor of education.
In the same Kineshma district, to which the Shchelykov school belonged in the 19th century, in 1914, a local native, St. Petersburg University student ND Kondratiev was tasked with sketching the development of a local zemstvo organization. The young man diligently completed the task, studying achievements, including in the field of school education. By 1916, on the territory of the present Ostrovsky district there were 34 schools of the Kineshma Zemstvo, two schools of the Ministry of Public Education, two parochial schools (both ministry and parochial schools used allowances from the Zemstvo). There were also several private schools – for example, in the village of Krutets there were even classes for preschoolers, where children “learned the rules of hygiene, learned to use handkerchiefs, learned basic prayers from their voices, played games and took long walks.”
Today, only 14 educational institutions remain, including two kindergartens, three primary schools, four elementary schools and five secondary schools in the Ostrovsky district. In the process of cost optimization, several primary and kindergartens were closed (one of the primary schools was defended by the gathering of peasants), the liquidation of rates, the closure of buildings and other “reducing unproductive expenditures in the education industry”. “It continues continuously. The District Directorate of National Education obediently carries out the orders of the ministry.
The exact number of the population cannot be determined. According to the last census, only 10,908 people live in the Ostrovsky district, where there are more than 1,300 children aged 0-10. The population is declining, and the Kostroma region is at the forefront of this process.
The closure of the school in Shchelykovo on the eve of the 200th anniversary of the eponymous playwright is, of course, testament to the despair and fading of the region. Now there are seven children in the local kindergarten (also named Ostrovsky). Perhaps their parents who are planning their future will perceive the closure of the school as an additional reason for leaving. In any case, they will have absolutely no incentive to choose life in Shchelykovo.
I remember a conversation I had with a museum worker whose daughter was studying at the Shchelykovo primary school. She said that when she came to the museum to work after graduation, she was sure she would leave after work, but that a child was born and it seemed more appropriate to raise her daughter in a quiet and safe environment. The place where a lot of attention is paid to every student in kindergarten. Then she and her husband decided to separate when it was time to take their daughter to school. But the idea of an almost individual education in a small rural school a step away from home made them rethink their decision. As a result, they still live and work in Shchelykovo, and their daughter easily entered the institute after graduating first from the nearby primary school, and then from the secondary school. It is known that the availability of economic education along with medical care keeps the village alive.
Today, unfortunately, everyone says that schools should be closed because with a small number of children it is inefficient to support them, the teaching is not of good quality, the technical infrastructure is lagging behind and there is no education. young staff. In general, there will be more children, we’ll talk later. But no one has heard of new schools being opened, and where will rural children come from if there are neither schools nor kindergartens? A vicious circle ensues.
What can be done? Probably the school can be a place of education not only for children but also for adults. Computer courses for the elderly, for example, crafts, music clubs – all this is no longer accessible to rural residents.
There are many problems with this, there are also many administrative bans, it is possible that the population also does not have a desire to develop their talents. Closing school is easier for everyone. Despite its centuries-old history. Let it be almost a museum object. If we had fewer prohibitions and accountability and more initiative from below, we could save the building and the teacher, attract middle-aged children to additional education, and organize a school relief fund.
For example, to organize a Zemstvo museum at school – there is a large federal museum nearby. However, this initiative is not supported in our country, administrative barriers are increasing, bureaucracy demands sacrifices, and the Shchelykovo school may be closed.
The author expresses his personal opinion, which may not coincide with the editors’ position.
Source: Gazeta
