Tyumen residents argue over extending kindergarten hours to 8 PM

After a direct line with Putin, State Duma deputies have seriously started considering changing the operating hours of Russian kindergartens. The president proposed extending children«s stay in the facilities until 8 PM. Residents of the Tyumen region have already debated this idea. Some think it will certainly ease life for families, while others are categorically against the amendments. All these opposing views are collected in this article.

‘Certainly, it should be extended to 8 PM. But if it is done, then only for genuinely working parents, not for everyone. Otherwise, it turns out that the last children will still be picked up by mothers who don’t even work. But they still pick up their kids late.’

‘Maybe it’s better to have round-the-clock from the start? Then everyone will be happy. They don’t see their kids as it is, and that’s not enough! Wait a minute, there are orphanages! Convert all kindergartens!’

‘In the past, there were departmental kindergartens, and parents left children there when necessary, but now everyone will leave them indiscriminately. After all, many parents can’t even handle weekends with their child, and during the January and May holidays, when kindergartens are closed, it’s a complete disaster for modern parents!’

‘I work in education myself and sometimes the question arises: “Dear mothers, who did you give birth for? The state?”’

‘Kindergartens operate from 7 AM to 7 PM. It’s good if there are enough teachers and they work in shifts, but if there aren’t, then they work 12 hours every day. They live in kindergartens! Working until 8 PM is simply unrealistic!’

‘Oh, everyone talks about how inconvenient it is for them to rush for the bus to make it to kindergarten. If only it worked longer! But has anyone thought about the little ones themselves? They get tired too. Kindergarten is work for them.’

‘It’s hard for kids in kindergarten even until 5 PM. Imagine what it will be like for them to stay there until 8 PM? And what about the expenses? Teachers will work more, so they should be paid accordingly. Children will have to be fed additionally, meaning kitchen staff will also have extended hours! It has always been tough for parents with little ones, but they managed somehow: there are grandparents, relatives, family friends, nannies after all!’

‘And does no one want to raise teachers’ salaries? They leave for work at 7 AM, some even earlier! Sometimes they come to the group at 6:30 AM, and children are already waiting at the door. Is that normal? And no one considers that teachers work with 30 children (and not always manageable ones). And nowadays, it’s rare to work half-days. They toil for 12 hours! And that’s not enough for parents! Unbelievable!’

‘With the new amendments, the remaining teachers will run away from your kindergartens. You’ll all go to private ones, that’s it!’

‘Raise salaries first, before extending hours! Teachers don’t earn much, that’s precisely why there’s a staff shortage!’

‘Round-the-clock nurseries and kindergartens are needed! Such existed in the USSR. People were distributed across Russia, with no grandparents nearby. And such a kindergarten near home was in demand. Parents could just drop by the kindergarten, see their child (sometimes already asleep). And in the end, they only picked them up on weekends. But at least the child isn’t wandering around with unchecked nannies, and parents are calm.’

‘Well, if parents pay teachers out of their own pocket to watch their kids after 8 PM, then why not? Moreover, the fee should be substantial so that parents think a hundred times before leaving them. Otherwise, the teacher already works round the clock: first at the kindergarten, then with paperwork at home, then answering parents’ silly questions in the chat. Do teachers not have their own children? No health can withstand such work!’

‘A child needs a mother, not other women who look after him. Work can be found near home. And if you can’t find work near home, why did you buy a house where there’s no work?’

‘Introduce «extended day» for those in need on a commercial basis, since so many work, meaning they earn? Otherwise, what’s the point of working so much? Set an hourly rate, and use that money to pay teachers. But does everyone really need it? And groups are always, God willing, 50% of the listed number attending. Moreover, they get temporary registration to enter a kindergarten not in their district, but then they don’t go.’

Against the backdrop of these discussions, rumors even spread in Tyumen that parents in our region are already being surveyed about the need to extend kindergarten hours. But the education department responded succinctly to a 72.RU journalist: ‘This does not correspond to reality, no such decisions have been made.’

Recall that recently, a publication caused a stir about how blogger Tuayana complained to followers on social media about a message from a kindergarten teacher. The educator asked her to pick up the child earlier, since by 5:30 PM, no one was left in the group. The scandalous video went viral and resonated with many parents. We publish various opinions of Tyumen residents on this matter.