The culture of admitting one's mistakes is growing in Russia. People become so conscious that they publicly repent for any misdeeds and careless words. They show high empathy: after all, what seems like a trifle to some, can deeply hurt others, especially when it comes to statesmen. Having originated in the North Caucasus, this tradition has stepped across a third of the country — straight into the Trans-Urals, and if earlier the offenders of Ramzan Kadyrov asked for forgiveness, now Kurgan villagers have joined them, encroaching on the government of their region.
Illustration: Petr Sarukhanov/Novaya Gazeta
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On February 2, a storm began in the Trans-Ural public: the inhabitants of the village of Ketovo, 10 kilometers from Kurgan, began to upload penitential videos one after another. They asked for forgiveness from the regional government for earlier demanding to open a new school in the village.
- “My name is Olga, my grandchildren go to the old school in Ketovo. The government has asked us to apologize for asking to open a new school. If it helps, then forgive us for taking care of our grandchildren.”
- “My name is Plaksina Marina, my child studies at the old Ket school. The government asked to apologize to the people and to them for the fact that we are fighting for the opening of a new school. If it helps in any way, please forgive us for fighting for the rights of our children.”
There are now dozens of similar apologies on social networks. Mass repentance was preceded by an ultimatum post on the page of the regional administration «Vkontakte». The officials explained why it was impossible to resolve the issue with the new school and demanded that the pressure on them be stopped. According to officials, the problem is money: the developer wants 1.1 billion rubles for the school, while the region cannot give more than 734 million. Because of this, allegedly, an “unscrupulous information campaign” was launched to discredit the authorities.
Position of local officials
“It’s as if “independent” public organizations were created by themselves at the same time, a Telegram channel “accidentally” appeared, journalists, bloggers, political strategists, “picketers” were mobilized <…> It is absolutely unacceptable that the children and parents of the village of Ketovo <…> The government of the Kurgan region believes that in addition to curtailing their destructive activities, the people behind this situation, if they are really interested in a legitimate dialogue and in providing children with a new school, should apologize to the residents of the Kurgan region for their illegal actions, which we see as an attempt to manipulate and misleading.»
It was then that the villagers felt remorse.
***
Ketovo is a prosperous village. Regional center. Only according to official figures, 8310 people live here, but locals say that in fact — more. And there are more than a thousand students here. All of them are now forced to huddle in a two-story school building built in 1968, originally designed for 400 people.
Ketovo. Photo: Ivan Zhilin/Novaya Gazeta
The village administration also has to get out: about twenty years ago, an annex was erected for the school — it accommodated another 250 students. When this was not enough, training was organized in two shifts. Then, according to locals, they began to equip corridors for classrooms. But the number of students continued to grow (for which, of course, the residents should also apologize), and in 2016 the authorities made a fundamental decision: a new school should appear in the village.
Ironically, the project did not remain on paper. In May 2020, a new three-story building on the main rural street — Kosmonavtov — was completed. Children were even taken inside to look at the freshly finished corridors and two large gyms, to sit at new desks. Why, they let me ride the elevators! After that,
the Russian tricolor was solemnly raised on the flagpole in front of the entrance to the school. And … they closed the gate to the castle. We looked, and that's enough — not a single student has crossed the threshold of the new school in two years. =»» />
New school in the village of Ketovo. There is no access for students. Photo: Ivan Zhilin/Novaya Gazeta
Already soon after the presentation, disturbing rumors began to circulate in the village: the developer and the regional government could not agree on money. It turned out that the Kurgan company «Everest» built the school at its own expense and even took out a loan for this business. The authorities had to pay for the work after the commissioning of the object.
The story was opaque from the very beginning: in 2017, when the project was just starting, officials agreed to allocate 734.1 million rubles for the Ket school. Even then, the developer was not satisfied with this money, he wanted a little more — 755 million. Now, the expectations of the parties have diverged completely: the regional government is ready to raise the price to 738 million rubles, and the developer, referring to the building materials that have risen in price during the construction of the school, wants to get 1.1 billion.
Now the Kurgan government admits that, perhaps, Everest had some kind of “agreements with former officials” at the start. But in 2019, the governor changed in the region, and there were no agreements with the new team.
For now, the interiors of the new school can only be viewed through the glass. Photo: Ivan Zhilin/Novaya Gazeta
Since last year, the parties have been trying to find out which of them is right in the arbitration court.
Both brought there the results of examinations, proving that it was the price they named that was fair. The government won the first instance, but the developer filed an appeal.
The villagers, however, do not care about these intricacies. They state in a simple way: children walk past the new school building every day. The key word is past.
Such a lack of understanding of the nuances of public-private partnership is, of course, shameful. And here it would be nice to apologize.
***
Here is the mother of many children, Yulia Marina, whose two children have already graduated from the “old” school, and the youngest daughter is in the second grade, imbued with the requirements of the regional government and recorded a penitential video.
From the penitential video of Yulia Marina
“Good afternoon everyone, my name is Julia. I am a mother of many children from the village of Ketovo, whose children studied and continue to study at the Ketovo secondary school — the same one that does not comply with the norms and rules, at a time when the new school has been standing for two years. Recently, the government said that we should apologize for fighting for the rights of our children so that children can study in comfortable conditions. If this somehow helps open a new school, then I apologize. Please forgive me.»
< p>Yulia Marina. Photo: Ivan Zhilin/Novaya Gazeta
“When I first read this post in the government group, I was angry. I thought: “Are they completely brutalized? We are no longer considered human.» And then I decided: well, if you need to apologize, then you need to, — says the woman. — Of course, it was ironic, — and he doesn’t smile for a second.
Yulia went to the presentation of the school in 2020 with her daughter. She talks enthusiastically about the new building.
— Everything is very stylish, beautiful, the classrooms have new furniture, multimedia projectors. In the art room, each student has his own easel. In the chemistry room there is a full-fledged laboratory. Canteen for 600 people, computer science class. The gym has a gymnastics section. Yes, the child constantly asks me when we will go to a new school! I don’t know what to answer her already.
Marina, on the contrary, has a lot of complaints about the “old” school:
— Even when my older children went to first grade (now they already sophomores), a crack was discovered in the foundation. Yes, such that the supervisory authorities wanted to generally prohibit the operation of the building. But somehow they fixed it, and the children continued to study.
«Later, when they were in high school, the floor collapsed in their classroom.»
Yulia says that the existing Ket school lacks projectors, the furniture is worn out, the children ruin their clothes on it, and there are only 10 computers in the only computer science class. After all, the food is always cold because there are no heat tables.
Other questions to the «old» school from the chairman of the parent committee of the Kurgan region Yuri Leonov. In 2007-2008, he was the director of the Ket school, where his children studied. He says that even then it was full. And this limits the ability of students to develop.
— Children then and now study in two shifts: the first — from 8.00 to 13.00, the second — from 14.00 to 19.00. All classes are busy. There is no way to organize additional education, there are no circles. And if there was a new school, then, of course, we could give the children more.
Old functioning school in Ketovo. Photo: Ivan Zhilin/Novaya gazeta class=»SingleImage_caption__2bWvj»>
Old school corridors. Photo: Ivan Zhilin/Novaya Gazeta
The “old” school is located on the same street as the new one, 300 meters away. There is a yellow car parked at the entrance with a red inscription «Children»: students from all over the district are taken to the regional center. Of course, they did not hear about any turnstiles, metal detectors and other innovations of the modern education system. What can I say — there is not even a guard at the entrance. The brown-painted old plank floor creaks.
Suddenly, a decent corner is near the stairs leading to the second floor. There are several new cabinets with cups and diplomas. On a separate stand — portraits of President Putin and Governor Shumkov.
School director Yuliya Stefanik, having heard that I am a journalist, immediately says: “I will give any comments only in agreement with the village administration.” It is recognized that due to the conflict around the new building, the school is subject to constant checks.
— But do you yourself want to move to a new school? — I specify.
She sighs tiredly.
— Well, the truth is: both as a director and as a person — only in agreement with the administration.
In the administration of Ketovo, however, they refuse to talk even more decisively. “I can't comment. I am only fulfilling my duties, ”says the acting director. head of the education department Natalya Lyuty. And he leaves with a quick step: «Sorry, they called.» The head of the administration is not in place — «he left for a meeting in Kurgan.»
***
The current demand for an apology is not the first attack on Ket's parents. In August last year, they decided to turn to President Vladimir Putin. They wrote an appeal on a plain sheet of paper and started collecting signatures.
From the appeal of the villagers of Ketovo to President Putin
“More than a thousand children of the largest village in the Kurgan region are at risk of being left without a quality education. Even the regional authorities admit that the main task is to prevent the third shift from being opened for the education of children <…> “Unique”, “the best in the Ural Federal District”, “the school of the XXI century”, as the officials themselves called it, in the end turned out to be a multimillion-dollar soap bubble.”
800 villagers signed this appeal.
The reaction was unexpected. On August 31, when the collection of signatures was in full swing, the police arrived at the hairdresser Yulia Gachkovskaya.
“Two people came straight to work. They said they were from the Criminal Investigation Department. They showed me a piece of paper with the inscription “Open a new school” and signatures, and said that I was engaged in illegal campaigning,” Yulia recalls. Have you already caught all the criminals? Roughly, of course, but what to do.
The policemen told Gachkovskaya that she behaved disrespectfully towards the representatives of the authorities, and this was an offense. She replied that they also did not behave too respectfully. As a result, they did not detain the hairdresser, but threatened that if she “got caught somewhere”, “it would be bad.”
Similar visits were arranged at least two more signature collection points.
Demands for an apology are also accompanied by an informational attack on parents. About the daughter of Yuri Leonov, Natalya, Kurgan public began to write that she «helped organize rallies of supporters of Alexei Navalny and was involved in ties with extremist organizations.» After that, he himself issued a statement: “Through the“ Internet garbage dump ”I was informed that they were taking my daughter as a“ hostage ”, practically stating in plain text that they were ready to falsify the case against her under a convenient article for extremism. After, having legalized with a dubious site, other media picked up this topic. I am sure that all parents understand my feelings. I have already accepted that they can arrest me, but I am not ready for my daughter to suffer. I declare that I stop public activities to draw attention to the opening of the Ket school.
We are already being called extremists. For what? What have we done? Leonov wonders.
Yuri Leonov. Photo: Ivan Zhilin/Novaya Gazeta
***
On February 4, the Kurgan media announced that the regional government and the developer of a school in Ketovo would create a working group to resolve the conflict. This happened after Andrey Lushnikov, the head of the Everest company, apologized to the officials, saying that he did not want and would not «participate in destructive processes.»
Mass repentance had a primary effect. Maybe the school in Ketovo will even be commissioned. But you should not stop there. The inhabitants of the Kurgan region still have a lot to apologize for to their government. For example, they complained about the lack of doctors in the first year of the pandemic. Harm from uranium mines. The lack of public toilets. And, of course, low wages.
You won't get far with such a population. So the Kurgan region is trampling on the last places in the all-Russian rating of the quality of life (79 out of 85). That is why people's incomes here are almost two times lower than in neighboring regions. That's why subsidies make up more than half of the budget.
Aren't you ashamed yet?
