What do they teach at school?

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I work in a Ukrainian school as a teacher. Do you think they teach children in school? No, they don’t. The school produces and sends out papers that are called Papers. Everyone has seen what a standard stack of paper looks like. Well, a stack like this at school lasts for 3 days. In a typical work day we get more than a dozen orders and directives of higher authorities. You would not believe, for each of them, we have to issue their order, and not in two words, and at least two pages of printed text. Here are some of the titles. “On increasing control over the education of non-Ukrainian citizens”, “On the appointment of a person responsible for conducting excursions”, “On the assignment of the territory to be cleaned”, etc. Each order comes with teachers’ signatures of acknowledgement. The door opens in the middle of the lesson: “Please read and sign…

In addition to orders come orders, mostly about competitions of various kinds. Just now I am preparing the children for their performance in the contest of native language experts, the contest for the best class newspaper, the project contest “What I did for my city” and two art contests (such contests are going on all the time.). And recently there was an essay contest “Where We Throw the Trash”. Yes, all this would be great, we need to consolidate, clean up, and hold contests. But not in such quantities! It’s impossible to adequately prepare, identify opportunities and really talent when there are 5-6 such contests a week.

In addition to children’s activities, each teacher is required to continually send to the Department of Education their developments, the themes of which are descended from above.

And that’s not all. The school plan also includes weekly meetings of subject departments, monthly extended pedagogical councils, and regular (i.e., daily) detailed statistical reports on various topics. For example, about the number of computers available in the school with all their data, and tomorrow, say, asked to hand over a complete list of literature, which you use in the work. And so in any subject. Keep in mind that all meetings, meetings (even parent meetings) must be recorded and signed.

And here’s more. Everyone knows that schools have health screenings for students. But you probably don’t know that you have to fill out a three-page questionnaire for each student by contacting his or her parents. There are up to 28 students in a class. Do you have an idea of the work?

Well, this job can at least somehow be connected to education. And the school should also work in the neighborhood. Here’s just one example. This year in 2012, our school has been distributed for the month of May-July more than 2 thousand gifts allocated by the city for veterans, pensioners and other privileged categories of citizens. More than 2 thousand. Naturally, after hours. Even at night. Listening to all what ordinary citizens think about the donors, sometimes looking for veterans at new addresses, in hospitals. And that’s not to mention the fact that each “gift” weighs 5 kg. Gifts had to be delivered in the summer as well. People were called in from their vacations. Because “Orders are not negotiable.

Now imagine a teacher who walks in the evening instead of preparing for classes with 30-40 pounds “on his shoulders,” scolded, wrote lesson notes at night, and in the morning was called to an urgent meeting to clean up the area and ordered to participate in a contest of “young dancers” or “artists” or “puppeteers. Reports on all this type of work are made urgently and delivered personally. Also during some off-hours). This is what our education looks like.

I don’t know if there is any way out of this situation. Perhaps hire separate paperwork and gift-giving people for the school? Or maybe just let the teachers just teach the kids?