Medvedev angered bloggers by calling low teacher salaries a “personal choice.” Why did Medvedev send teachers into business?

A wave of indignation was caused by the words of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev that teachers should change their profession and go into business if they want to earn decent money. We present the reaction of ordinary Russian teachers to the words of the Prime Minister.

The reaction to Medvedev’s words that teachers, for the sake of higher incomes, should change their profession and go into business, for example, was not long in coming.

On Thursday on the site Change.Org a petition appeared demanding the resignation of the prime minister.

The appeal is rapidly collecting signatures: in the first few hours, the vote count grew into the thousands.

Both teachers and citizens who sympathize with them leave comments under the text of the petition. Indignation also reigns in teachers' public pages on VKontakte. We publish some comments from teachers about Medvedev’s words:

Olga Ch., teacher from Voronezh: “I myself am a teacher. I am extremely outraged by the words of the Prime Minister, who advises teachers to look for other income. A teacher performs the most important function in society: not only teaches, but also educates! Raises a person responsible to himself and to the Fatherland, ready to defend his Motherland, appreciating the exploits and dedication of his ancestors, ready to benefit society. Many thanks to all the teachers who continue their teaching activities in such difficult conditions in the field of education!”

Anna K., physics teacher in Mordovia: “In principle, it is simply impossible to go into business here in a small village. the whole business consists only of trading in the market, but the teacher will not even be able to combine his work. For example, I have lessons until an hour or two, then until four in the evening there are extracurricular activities. After that, I come home and pick up my two children from kindergarten. While doing them, I check my notebooks. You also need to have time to write a summary plan for the next day. In total, I have 18 hours a week, I also have a cool supervisor, and I am also the head of the laboratory. With all this, my salary is 11 thousand 500 rubles, and with incentives, I receive 16 thousand rubles in my hands. I don’t understand why this work can’t be paid more.”

Irina D., a teacher from Moscow: “I have not liked the prime minister for a long time, but what was said today simply caused indignation. Honestly, I don’t want to return from vacation, knowing what awaits me again... The children hold me back, but less and less every day. As Tatyanasanna from Fizruk said: “The teacher in me has died.”

Alexander P., a teacher from Nizhny Novgorod: “I think that Medvedev provokes teachers and teachers. I wanted to write a detailed analysis of the text of the speech of the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation with my comments (as I know how to do), and then suddenly it dawned on me: this is exactly the reaction from teachers in in social networks The authorities are most likely waiting. And for what purpose is unclear to me. Therefore, I will show maximum restraint and correctness. I’ll just indicate my tough position on the issue raised: in the employment contracts and job descriptions of teachers (including mine) there is no term “calling”. There are words such as “labor”, “responsibilities”, “rights”, “responsibility”, “law”. And - oh horror - “salary”. From a moral point of view, the work of a teacher certainly falls under the category of “vocation”, “gift”, “mission” finally. But from the point of view of law and justice, this is work. Which must be paid, and paid with dignity (Constitution of the Russian Federation, Article 7, Part 1). A teacher (teacher) is a profession that a person has spent time and effort mastering. Qualified. And this profession can (and should!) be, first of all, not a lyrical vocation, but a very specific and legitimate means of livelihood. Or if you count us as saints, then at least relieve us, teachers, from the obligation to pay income tax at 13 % (as ROC). For me personally, there will be a quite significant increase in money (although this money itself is small, even with two bets).”

Valentina B., teacher from Izhevsk: “If a teacher’s salary were higher, then more talented young people would enter pedagogical universities, and most likely by vocation. Accordingly, the level of education and upbringing of the younger generation would increase, and the country's intellectual potential would increase. It’s a pity that the government doesn’t think about this.”

Anna S., teacher from Sevastopol: “You can come to class, open your textbooks and notebooks and give assignments to your students. The lesson is over. Or you can prepare for two hours, find a bunch of video materials, for example on the topic “Rounding numbers with excess and deficit,” download a fragment of the cartoon “38 Parrots,” and be in contact with your 29 students for the entire lesson. And the salary is the same! Meaning?! They don’t want to pay me decently for my work; I lose the desire to work decently.”

Tatyana N, Rostov-on-Don, excellent student of public education, teacher of the highest category, retired.
“The salary in 2015 was 14 thousand rubles. I always taught only 1st grade of elementary school. Before the crisis began in 2013, her salary was about 23 thousand rubles. There were additional payments: for quality, incentive payments, for class management there was 1 thousand “presidential” and 450 from the “governor”. Now all payments have been removed. Now a young teacher I know with 3 years of experience teaches 2 primary classes - the salary is about 25 thousand rubles. (the quality of children’s education suffers from teaching 2 classes at the same time). Before the crisis in 2013, her salary was about 40 thousand rubles.” According to Tatyana’s information, tutoring in the Rostov region is currently at the following prices - 1 hour of classes in elementary school is 300 rubles, in high school about 500 rubles. Teachers also take on additional workloads. lessons (elective). This brings additional income of 3-4 thousand rubles.

The topic of the day

If we didn’t have Dmitry Medvedev, we would have to invent him. Because he cuts through the truth with a frankness that any opposition can envy. At the same time, you reveal your own incompetence so naively that you can’t help but think: if the prime minister is like that, what are his subordinates like?

Here is another “wise” advice to the impoverished population from the Prime Minister: to Russian teachers who are dissatisfied with a salary of 15 thousand rubles, he said that teaching is a calling, “and if you want to earn money, there are a lot of great places where you can do it faster and better. Same business." And besides, according to Dmitry Anatolyevich, a hard-working teacher can “somehow, so to speak, earn something else” - in addition to the basic salary.

These are the rosy ideas, apparently, that are painted in the head of the second person in the state: uninterested grabbers without a vocation, thinking only about money, will leave school and start a profitable business and will be very happy. In their place will come energetic, hardworking teachers who will not be embarrassed by meager salaries, because they have a calling, and therefore will also be very happy. And the most energetic of them, in their free time from their main jobs, will start working part-time in business and combine their vocation with wealth - that is, there will be no limit to their happiness.

Such views of the prime minister are quite understandable: we all know very well about government officials who quite successfully manage to combine their main activities with business, even a very large one. But here’s the problem: what the officials can do, for some reason the teachers can’t do it.

The director of the Transbaikal school, Valentina Manikovskaya, tried to explain to the prime minister what the reason for this paradox is and why teachers are so unlucky. In simple and accessible words, she explained things that are understandable to the vast majority of us: that doing business requires a lot of time, which a teacher does not have, because work by vocation requires enormous dedication and takes almost 24 hours a day. That a business needs initial capital, but a teacher’s salary is only enough to last until the next salary, and even then with difficulty.

As for overly greedy teachers leaving for business “to make ends meet,” this is, of course, possible, but it is fraught with very sad consequences: a holy place (even a low-paid one) is never empty, and others will come to take the place of departed teachers. Those who, due to weak abilities and other shortcomings, cannot find another job. And our children will be taught by those who are not fit for anything else... And this is not fun at all, Dmitry Anatolyevich.

Therefore, it makes sense to familiarize yourself with the experience of other countries - those where education (and the economy in general, which is a consequence of education) is doing well. There, teachers' earnings are not left to the market, and they are quite comparable to the income of an average businessman. For example, in Germany, a teacher's salary ranges from 3,200 to 4,700 euros per month. And in Finland, even a novice teacher receives 3,600 euros per month. As a result, the largest competition in Finnish universities is for teaching departments. Accordingly, the smartest people go there. Accordingly, smart teachers prepare good personnel for the economy. Accordingly, the economy is good.

So, maybe it’s not worth sending teachers after all? Even if it’s for business.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who just two months ago thundered on social networks with the phrase “There is no money, but you hold on,” again successfully answered the question about money: speaking at the youth forum “Territory of Meanings,” in response to the question why teachers in Dagestan receive several times less than the police, he explained that teaching is not a way of making money, but a calling. For those who want to make money, it is better to start a business. The prime minister's full answer is given by Medusa:

...It's a personal choice. I am often asked about this, both by teachers and professors. This is a calling. And if you want to earn money, there are a lot of great places where you can do it faster and better. Same business. But you didn’t go into business, as I understand it? Here you go. (Laughs.)

Dmitry Medvedev: If you have little money, then you just need to get rich.

Dimon Medvedev taking a bucket and broom
explained to everyone how easy it is to live without money

In fact, what is happening is not much different from the “hungry 90s,” commentators noted.

In general, of course, “if you are a teacher, then you yourself chose a miserable salary, don’t complain” - this is the classic nineties. Full height. I think we will inevitably have to go back there and work on our mistakes. It will be unpleasant, and not only for poor state employees, but for everyone.

On the other hand, in the 90s there seemed to be no such number of “siloviks”.

The Prime Minister again cast it in granite, this time on the “territory of meaning on the Klyazma.” This is where Sergei Neverov reproached a girl with a low salary for her two higher educations.

The thing with the prime minister was like this: a young man from Dagestan stood up and said: here in our republic the salary of a teacher is 10-15 thousand, a security officer’s salary is 50 thousand. And he answered: don’t even think about comparing, there’s no need, it’s unnecessary.

As a consolation, the prime minister said that it was the same in the USSR: here he received 90 rubles, and a policeman - 250. Everything is fair, they didn’t live well - it’s not worth starting.

Here you can give some dry statistics. In Russia, there are 546 police officers per hundred thousand people (not counting all other security forces, from the National Guard to the army). In England - 227. Does this mean that we are more than twice as dangerous as the British?

Even in the USA, which our government loves to refer to, there are only 376 police officers per 100 thousand. And most importantly, their salaries do not exceed the salaries of teachers by 3-5 times. Actually - on what basis? A policeman ensures our safety today, a teacher ensures our safety tomorrow. These are two equally important and difficult professions.

However, as I say, the reason is clear: a teacher will not be dragged into a paddy wagon from a rally - that’s the important difference. It's a pity that the prime minister forgot to mention it.

Indeed, the risks are not comparable. If you don’t pay the security forces, you won’t be able to stay in power. But teachers can be paid little - they will all tolerate the same thing!

Many heard in Medvedev’s words a hint that one could pay less for work according to one’s vocation.

I think teachers should also be charged money for the opportunity to realize their calling! And from scientists, from scientists!

I realized that if there is a calling, a person no longer needs money. In fact, he can feed on the Holy Spirit or some kind of prana. Dimych probably doesn’t need money either; he has a calling to “work” as “Prime Minister”.

Some commentators, instead of criticizing the prime minister, admired his honesty.

I don’t understand now: what exactly did the man Medvedev say that was wrong in this case, that they are mocking him again?
firstly, he told the truth (by the way, quite transnational): if you want a lot of money, don’t become a teacher, and secondly, for once, on a sensitive issue where it’s easy to give blackbirds and parsley, on the contrary, he demonstrates consistency and firmness . practically libertarian gave an answer to the stupid question of why some people have more wages and others less. yes on everything.
By the way, there really is no money. and he could promise, but he doesn’t play the fool.

Lately I have been liking Dmitry Medvedev more and more. I respected him very much after his benefit performance in Feodosia, and the phrase “There is no money, all the best to you” has already become firmly established at his suggestion. I like the healthy level of cynicism of Dmitry Medvedev, who does not even try to strain for the sake of suckers, promising them that tomorrow will be better. Medvedev knows for sure that if anyone will be better off, it will be only him, Putin, the Rotenbergs, Kovalchuk and those especially close to the throne. It is this reluctance to strain that is captivating. Suckers should know their place. And I don’t care that there are State Duma elections in a month. The suckers will still vote as they are told. Well, he's handsome! Elena Tumanova

Teachers were also reminded of their participation in elections as an “administrative resource.”

“Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev advised Russian teachers who complain about low salaries to change their profession and go into business.

The Russian Prime Minister gave similar advice to teachers during a conversation with participants in the “Territory of Meanings” forum on Klyazma, a video about which was posted on YouTube.

“I am often asked about teachers and professors. This is a calling, and if you want to earn money, there are a lot of great places where you can do it faster and better. The same business,” Medvedev said in response to a question from one of the forum participants, a teacher from Dagestan.

He asked Medvedev why teachers and lecturers in Russia receive salaries of 10,000 - 15,000 rubles per month, and police officers and law enforcement agencies receive salaries of 50,000 rubles and more.

Medvedev responded by talking about how he worked as a teacher after graduating from university and received much less money than police officers. The prime minister said that after university he was offered to immediately go to the prosecutor’s office, receive a rank and a large salary. But Medvedev chose graduate school and teaching at a low salary. And in order to “make ends meet,” he gave many lectures and conducted many seminars.

“There is no need to compare it. The question is what you choose in life. Every person in life chooses what is important to him,” Medvedev said. Personal choice is important.

The prime minister expressed confidence that a modern teacher is capable of not only receiving a salary according to a schedule, but also “earning money in some other way.”

At the end of May, Medvedev, in response to a complaint about small pensions for residents of Crimea and the question of where indexation is, answered laconically: “But it’s not there anywhere. There's just no money. If we find the money, there will be indexation. Stay strong, good health and good mood."

Something like that. There's nothing even to add. First, work 5 days a week (or 6) at school, and on Sunday unload the cars. This is for male teachers. And women...Oh...In the evenings you can become moths. One problem. At 51, they won’t take you to moths anymore. if only for mothers. But, it will be busy every night, it won’t work either.

Well, yes, you can make money by being a teacher. When my husband died, I had an 18-20 hour working day. School, tutoring, solving tests for “gifted” financial students. And they were even able to buy a computer... However, this arrangement was enough for me for six months. And then exhaustion of the body, decreased immunity and asthma. Which is what I still use with the addition of other ailments.

Well, yes, the question is what you choose in life. Everyone in life chooses what is important to them. And the state too. Apparently, educated people are not important to the state at all and they decided to dismantle the teaching profession as a class. And what? A military man and, in general, every cook can raise a child and teach...