Teacher Exam

SCHOOL STUDENTS AGAIN?

Russian school teachers are being forced to sit school exams

By Stephen Wilson

 

              

"It's humiliating as well as a waste of my valuable time. I have so many other problems to deal with. But the headmistress has informed all teachers at our school they must do the Russian Unitary State Exam  initially designed for final year school students. It lasts four hours and we have to travel outside of Moscow to sit this. This is not for free. We have to pay 3000 rubles for this.

              

Unless we sit this exam, the commission won't approve of our school or offer us subsidies." said an exasperated school teacher who we have wisely decided not to name given possible repercussions. For several months educational

officials from a commission have been carrying out countless inspections of not only teachers, but all the school records. The teachers at this private Lyceum which specializes in Latin and Greek and is located near the Olympic Stadium of Moscow can be forgiven for feeling 'a sense of persecution.' But they are far from being the only victims of increasing red tape. Over the past few years school teachers have been asked to sit poorly designed and incomprehensible exams in mathematics which were highly unprofessional.

              Even the former Minister of Education called for an end to such crude exams. Russian school teachers have long complained about how increased red tape is hampering their role as teachers. In theory, keeping school records on a  computer should cut red tape. But in practice it can actually increase the burden as some headmasters insist that the recorded marks of school students should be kept on a computer, paper and by the student himself. But what if a teacher has awarded three to a student but the computer records show a four and the teacher can't change this mark because the computer refuses? This has been the experience of some teachers who had to spend the time looking for an elusive student who has gone away on holiday. A teacher might spend hours looking for a student so that they can settle a problem concerning the consistency of marks.

 

              Despite a recent letter written by Klimova Konstantinova, last December sent with a request that the President take action to cut all this red tape, and other letters,

paperwork has intensified rather than decreased. For example, some school teachers have been asked to present a medical certificate as well as a certificate to prove they have no criminal record. To acquire the latter document can take an enormous amount of time and effort. To add insult to injury, the teachers are asked to pay themselves for those certificates. This should be an informality. It only takes a few seconds for a policeman to establish whether a teacher has a criminal record by running his or her name through a computer. It is clear that the real reasons for inventing more exams for teachers to sit and certificates for teachers to gain is to obtain more money. There is a distinct correlation between the rising bureaucracy and insidious corruption. But such unchecked corruption has led to teachers being chronically stressed, on the verge of a nervous breakdown or burnt out.

 

              Not surprisingly, you have a huge shortage of school teachers all over parts of Russia. In some villages half the teachers are of retirement age because schools can't persuade younger teachers to take up new posts. I heard that in one school in Voronezh a brilliant Russian teacher of German has to work over 38 hours to earn just 50,000 rubles!  If she goes into retirement, there will be no more German teachers at the school. In fact, the normal workload of a school teacher should not exceed 18 hours a week. However, in practice they are usually doing more than 30 just to earn half decent pay. Whereas the average teacher in school should teach up to 520 hours a year, in practice they work 720 or more hours a year! Part of the reason for the increased workload are increased school closures fueled by harsh austerity policies. In 2017 alone, as many as 3000 schools were closed down in Russia.

 

              It is time to stop the over testing of not only school students but the teachers themselves whom the government does not respect. The developmental psychologist, Klimova, called for the ending of testing in primary schools. She warned that 'Endless checks and marks kill the interest of young children who wish to discover something new and have to develop inner motivation ... It is especially dangerous in the formation of young school children when they are constantly given negative marks by teachers. It can lead to inferiority complexes, low self esteem, motivation to avoid further learning and to the syndrome of learnt helplessness'. In fact, both teachers and students feel demoralized by over checking and over testing. They badly need a break!