Time to read: 13 minutes(s)

In the Dagestani village of Oktyabrskoye, after 10 years of struggle, parents have successfully secured the closure of a dilapidated school. They threatened the authorities that on September 1st, they would no longer send their children to attend life-threatening classrooms, where the ceilings threatened to collapse on the students' heads at any moment. The school was closed. But this did not solve the children's education problem. Thousands of schoolchildren across the republic are now learning in buildings that haven't been renovated for years, where toilets are outside, and where wind blows through cracks.

"NotMoscow Speaking" continues its series of publications about Dagestan's dilapidated schools.

In 2020, Dagekspertiza LLC recognized the school in the village.October The Khasavyurt district is in disrepair. The elementary school building was ordered to close, but the school principal overruled the expert's order, and the children continued attending the school, which was on the verge of collapse. 

In June of this year, parents organized a public meeting at which they resolutely demanded that the authorities build a new school in the village.We're afraid to send our children to school because the building could collapse at any moment. The toilet is outside, the ceiling is crumbling, and the walls are peeling everywhere. We demand school; we don't want to send our children to this dilapidated building and then, God forbid, have to search for their bones under the rubble.», - resented parents at the meeting.

"I I've been working here for 30 years. The school is old, made of plywood, made of scraps. Water drips on the desks, and I have to put basins down. The hallways have been converted into classrooms, the tiles and plaster are peeling off, there are draughts from the windows, there are large cracks in the walls, and the floors in every room are huge, with snakes crawling out from time to time. We need everything like everyone else: a club, a school, a kindergarten, and we will continue to do so. Every villager curses those in power at their gates, because those in power should do good for the people, not just profit."," said teachers at the school in Oktyabrsky. 

The school in Oktyabrskoye consists of two buildings, built in 1967 and 1970. The school is designed for 300 students, but only 400 actually attend. The school has no plumbing, heating, or running water. In winter, children freeze in their classrooms even in their jackets. Toilets are outside, and drinking water is provided in a bucket by the entrance. Children drink from a shared mug.

Residents of Oktyabrsky have been fighting for a new school for 10 years. Appeals to various authorities have yielded no results. District authorities cited either a lack of funds or difficulties finding land for the new building. Villagers say they were even offered to chip in 1000 rubles each to purchase the land for the new school. To prevent the building from collapsing on the children's heads, parents installed support beams on the leaking ceiling two years ago at their own expense. 

«Of course, when children see crumbling ceilings and supports, they fear for their lives and don’t want to go to school."," the father of three tells NeMoskva Isa, his children study in a dilapidated building. — Children now Smart kids see what modern schools are like online and on TV and want to attend one too. But what's the point if the kids have nowhere to wash their hands after using the restroom?». 

Fatima Nazirbekova Fatima has been working at the school in Oktyabrsky for 43 years. She is now the head teacher at the high school. She describes the conditions in the elementary school building in one word: unbearable.Words cannot describe the state the library is in: There are no shelves or racks, books are stacked on the floor. Nothing has changed here since its foundation, - says Fatima, "And our cafeteria is a utility room with a small, old refrigerator. Teachers and parents renovate classrooms themselves (papering the ceilings, covering the walls with fiberboard) and at their own expense, including in the senior school building, where the roof also leaks and bird droppings fall on the desks."

Fatima told a NeMoskva correspondent that, throughout its entire existence, the school's academic department never acquired its own classroom, and there were three computers and one interactive whiteboard for all the teachers:How am I supposed to analyze a lesson I just taught? I need to talk to the teacher alone, and there are simply no available rooms.. My computer is 25 years old, and it's constantly freezing. What's the point of working with that? Or, say, we have a gym, but we have no equipment. And the gym teacher has to buy the balls for classes. But we have the same demands on everyone else—where are the best, most equipped schools, but we have no conditions for development."

The teacher is convinced that the conditions in which children study influence their academic performance. “Is there no difference between studying in a comfortable, bright classroom with a working computer or in an old room with a 50-year-old blackboard, a creaky chair under you, and old desks?", asks Fatima.  

Authorities at all levels responded to the villagers' riot in Oktyabrsky. The regional head Sergey Melikov instructed the Minister of Education Yahya Buchaev "Go to the village, talk to the locals," and sort out the situation. The minister did go and talk. However, the conversation didn't go well. According to Oktyabrsky residents, by the time he arrived Yahya Buchaeva School staff removed the props from the premises and closed some classrooms. But the official recommended He even promised to allocate funds for the props' purchase and suggested that it would be more practical to allocate buses to transport students to the neighboring village, rather than build a school. It's cheaper that way.

The minister himself refuted the "popular version" of the events of his visit to Oktyabrskoye and accused his words, spoken at a meeting with local residents, of being taken out of context. Contrary to the opinion of experts who declared one of the school's two buildings unsafe, the official believes that it "is indeed in poor condition, but not so bad that the roof is falling on the children's heads." At the same meeting with villagers, he stated that building a new school would be a lengthy process, even if the necessary 600-800 million rubles were found in the budget.

A State Duma deputy from Dagestan also commented on the situation in Oktyabrsky. Sultan KhamzaevHe called the dilapidated schools in Dagestan a "disgrace" of the region's previous authorities and promised to find funding for construction. Khamzaev believes that funding for a new school "can and should be found."

The district administration informed residents of Oktyabrsky that work is underway to develop a land plot of at least 2,6 hectares for the construction of a new school for 400 students.  

While the authorities were “discussing” and “carrying out work,” local residents themselves decided the issue of a plot of land for the construction of a school.The land issue was a very difficult one to resolve, but in the end, the people sorted it out themselves. Some owners gave away their plots for free."," Shamil, a father of many children, told NeMoskva.

The last official to visit the school was the Minister of Physical Culture and Sports of Dagestan Sajid Sajidov, but for some reason he promised to build a football field in the village.

The district administration has promised a new school for the villagers by 2026. It's unclear when the promised major renovations to the senior school building will be completed. Authorities have proposed busing students to a neighboring village, but parents disagree with this. Another option is to organize a three-shift school schedule in the existing building after the renovation, but parents are wary of sending their children to school after dark.  

The regional supervisory agency assured residents of the village of Oktyabrskoye that the school construction issue is "under the supervision of Prosecutor General Krasnov."

September 1st line-up in Oktyabrsky passed by the old school building. But the children didn't go to school, We started off with distance learning, and now classes are conducted via WhatsApp. True, the authorities promised all children tablets and laptops to make distance learning easier. But it's not hard to guess how these promises ended.

Major renovations to the senior school building have not yet begun, although the authorities promised that work should have started a month and a half ago.

Seven kilometers from the village of Oktyabrskoye, in the village Soviet Children study in three shifts in the building of the old kindergarten.We need help! – Father of three Yusupov tells NeMoskva— We don’t know who else to turn to.. We've been without school for four years. Sanitary regulations prohibit a three-shift system, but that's how our children learn. Here, lessons are held in the cafeteria, because even with three shifts, there's not enough space for everyone.".

The school in Sovetsky was declared unsafe in 2020. The building, constructed in 1976, did not meet sanitary and fire safety requirements. The school had never undergone major renovations. The gym and restrooms are located outside. The building is severely dilapidated, with peeling plaster. After numerous appeals from parents to various authorities, the children were transferred to a small, old building that had previously served as a kindergarten. The republic's authorities promised the villagers a new 200-student school by the end of 2023 as part of the subprogram "Creation of New Places in General Education Organizations of the Republic of Dagestan in Accordance with Needs and Modern Learning Conditions for 2021-2025." This subprogram is part of the state program "Education Development in the Republic of Dagestan" of the federal project "Modern School." 

According to Yusupov, they managed to achieve this after a personal meeting with the assistant to the Presidential Plenipotentiary Representative in the North Caucasus Federal District. Valentina Masenkova. Deputy Prime Minister of Dagestan Manvel Mazhonts, Masenkov then assured him that the school construction issue had already been "taken under control by the Government of Dagestan." Masenkov, in turn, also promised residents of Sovetsky oversight from the Office of the Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the North Caucasus Federal District. The amount allocated for the construction and design of the facility—186 million—was also announced.

The place where we were promised a school this year is still in ruins.  Construction work here hasn't even begun. But the Ministry of Education tells us that construction is underway on paper and that the children are studying in two shifts. As the saying goes, paper will bear anything. I just want Masenkov himself to come and tell us what he's finally taken over.“Yes,” Yusup said. 

They have been waiting 13 years for a new school in a high-mountain village Hebatli Tsuntinsky District. Eighty children continue to attend the old school, which was declared unsafe back in 2016. In June of this year, one of the school's walls collapsed. No one was injured only because it happened during school breaks, and in the evening, when the building was empty. Previously, due to the risk of collapse, students were strictly prohibited from running around inside the building during recess. 

 The district deputy and activist has been fighting for a new school in Hebatli for many years now. Magomedramazan Abdulkarimov. 

According to him, there are currently potbelly stoves in the classrooms, but they do not heat the rooms, There are drafts everywhere. Students have to sit at their desks on cushions and in their outerwear.

The school has no gym or cafeteria. Meals are prepared for the children in a neighboring building, where the district authorities rent space for this purpose.

The current building was built in 1965 and has fallen into disrepair, the activist says— Back in 2016, the prosecutor's office declared the school 70% deteriorated and, for several years, lobbied the district authorities to close the school and ensure safe learning conditions. However, the court simply decided to transfer the 68 students to a two-shift schedule on the second floor of the existing, dilapidated building. Since then, the school has become 100% deteriorated.

To draw the attention of decision-makers to the problem of the small village, Abdulkarimov held solo pickets in Makhachkala and Pyatigorsk, sought meetings with officials, and even reached Putin's reception office.

The facility was included in the federal program "Education Development," although I had previously been told at all levels that there was no money., — continues Ramazan. — I even reported our problem to Putin's reception office via videoconference. And so, at the beginning of 2021, a progress report on the instructions issued following my appeal was published on the President's website. Citing regional governor Melikov, it stated that the school would be completed by the start of the new academic year. 

However, the facility was not completed by the scheduled deadline. Two years later, the reason for the construction suspension was finally revealed. The school in Hebatli was excluded from the federal program due to increasing costs and construction timelines. This occurred after three floors had already been built and 150 million rubles had been spent. 

As I was told, the site where construction is taking place has a nearly 40-meter elevation difference. It's necessary to annex the adjacent privately owned property. The process of land transfer, then state assessment, and the creation of a new urban development plan will take a long time, and we simply won't have time to utilize the federal funds.,” the interlocutor of “NeMoskva” explained.

The authorities promise to complete the school using funds from the republican budget. But Magomedrazan Abdulkarimov doubts this. 

When it became known that a new school would be built for our children, local residents donated their land for the construction of the facility. If there were problems with the land, then why did the authorities remain silent and not re-register the land?“to,” the deputy asks. 

Despite the construction freeze, Abdulkarimov does not intend to give up and promises to continue fighting for the new school. 

On July 21, the head of Dagestan told RIA Novosti that the republic would help its sponsored Mikhailovsky district in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region restore war-damaged schools by September 1, 2023.

On July 24, the republic's leader decided to address his own problematic schools and instructed the republic's Ministry of Education and Science to conduct an inventory of all dilapidated schools. They will be repaired in order of priority. The work is scheduled to be completed by December 1 of this year.

The chronology of local news about the funding and scope of capital repairs of Dagestani schools is interesting.

In August 2021, Yahya Buchaev announced that 555 schools in Dagestan were in need of major repairs. The work was expected to be completed within five years. By early 2022, the republic's authorities had already announced 6,7 billion rubles for the repair of 264 schools. Shortly after this announcement, the Prime Minister of Dagestan Abdulmuslim Abdulmuslimoannounced plans for major repairs of 315 schools in 2022-2023. In August 2022, Dagestan's head, Melikov, was informed that 210 school buildings would reopen after major repairs. In January 2023, the Ministry of Education planned major repairs for only 139 facilities. In May of this year, the Deputy Minister of Education of Russia Andrey Nikolaev рассказал about the "strange letters" from Dagestan, which do not indicate the completion dates for school construction. 

"NotMoscow Speaking" told about how a new school in the village of Rakhata has been unable to open for several years, forcing 400 children to study in a sewing workshop. We also published history residents of the village of Pervomayskoye, who are also fighting for humane educational conditions for their children.