At the beginning of 2011, it was planned to introduce paid education in Russian schools in all regions. So, on April 28, 2010, the Federation Council approved a new law adopted by the State Duma on the introduction of paid reform in budgetary institutions of the Russian Federation. This bill was introduced at the end of 2010 by experts from the budget and tax committee of the Russian Federation. The main goal of the reform, which will enshrine the introduction of paid education in school institutions in the constitution, is to quickly rid the state budget of the treasury of waste in this budget sector.
Representatives of United Russia voted unanimously in favor of the bill, but the Communist Party and Just Russia factions did not support it. The main concern in society was caused by the wording of the new law, which was written so that the education system in it became unavailable for ordinary citizens. That is, the law implied the introduction of full control over the establishment of prices for objects by the school. Now funding will be discontinued in each city school, and the question of the cost of training will be decided by the leadership of a particular educational institution.
Thus, according to this document, all government agencies will be transferred to a system of autonomous and budgetary education. New budgetary institutions are now given the right to engage in educational activities that bring them income, and the director of the educational institution will manage the distribution of income between teachers and teachers.
Paid education has a number of advantages. Among the advantages, it can be noted that with the help of the bill, schools will gain more independence, and they will also have the opportunity to more flexibly manage all the received financial resources. But at the same time, due to the introduction of payment for the lessons, the issue of implementing new educational programs that will monitor the quality of education is not addressed at all. After all, paid education implies more thorough and high-quality training.
True, it is worth noting that the transition to paid tuition will occur gradually. First, the Ministry of Education plans to direct financial resources to provide the main educational program. This suggests that funds from the country’s budget will continue to be paid for basic school subjects such as Russian, literature, mathematics, physics and other important sciences. Then it is planned to transfer about 40% of Russian schools to the new financial and managerial principles of education, according to which each parent can choose for himself which subject to pay for and which not. Thus, part of the subjects of the educational program will be paid by the state, and part by parents. This will not only increase the flow of funds in schools, but also improve the quality of education.
But parents who send their children to school disagree with such principles. Indeed, now, for each child, it will be necessary to pay more than 5,000 rubles for training in basic subjects, as well as pay for additional services, such as a trip, to sections and circles. In addition, paid tuition at school is complicated by the fact that the educational institution will have to form a special fund, to which all funds will be transferred. And for his education, it is necessary to rent a room and hire a professional accountant, who will conduct all office work, as well as pay taxes.
In the end, the new law will result in all costs of the school being borne by the parents. Moreover, the school will display price lists in which each parent will have to choose certain items for their child. So we can say with confidence that paid education will not lead to an improvement in the quality of education, but will only increase the number of uneducated people.