Russian Schools Being Closed at Unconscionable Rates, Threatening Country’s Future, Nalgin Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, March 2 – Russians concerned about the future of their country should be worried by the unbelievable rate at which schools are being closed, especially in rural areas, Andrey Nalgin says, a trend that is killing off villages, undermining chances for social mobility and reducing the number of young people ready for university.

            The number of middle schools in Russia, the analyst says, drifted downward from 69,700 in 1991 to 68,100 in 2000, the year Vladimir Putin came to power, before going into free fall, with only 41,800 still in operation in 2017, the last year for which he provides data (a-nalgin.livejournal.com/1659415.html).

            Part of this decline reflects the decline in the number of school age children, from 20.5 million in 2000 to 16.1 million in 2018, but the rate of school closers is almost twice as great as the fall off in the number of potential pupils. The situation, Nalgin continues, is especially bad in rural areas.

            Outside of the cities, the number of general educational schools fell from 48,600 in 1990 to 45,400 in 2000 before collapsing to 26,400 in 2013. In urban areas, the number of such schools actually rose between 1990 and 2000 from 21,200 to 22,700, before falling to 18,300 at the present time.

            He says that these figures are especially disturbing when compared to the growth of the number of Russian Orthodox Churches between 1990 and 2015, from 2500 to 34,500.  That means, he continues, that churches are being built at an explosive rate while schools are being closed at almost the same.

            “Is this not a national tragedy?” Nalgin asks rhetorically.

            In reposting his article, Novyye izvestiya appends comments to his original post.  One writer says that “the current policy of the authorities is correct.” The powers that be do not want to train too many people for jobs that don’t exist.  That could lead to revolts like the Tunisian Spring (newizv.ru/article/general/03-03-2019/vopros-dnya-kuda-poyti-uchitsya-buduschemu-strany).

            A second suggests that Nalgin should not confuse quantity with quality. A third argues that closing rural schools is an “economical” means of driving people out of the countryside into the cities. A fourth says the whole system is becoming more efficient. And a fifth asks how many children does Nalgin himself have.