In Orenburg closed rural school, where he studied for more than a hundred years

This happened in the village of Old Shalty, where officials decided to close the school, in which many generations of children studied for more than a hundred years. The history of education here began in 1918-1919 with a primary school at the mosque. In the 1959-1960 academic year, an eight-year school was opened, and six years later - a secondary school. In 2011, the secondary school closed, and tenth-graders went to study in other educational institutions of the district. But the nine-year-old continued to work, there was a good teaching staff, teachers of the first qualification category, and 13 children studied.

In August, the administration came and called the parents and said that from September 1, our school will be closed. We were in shock. Our school is good and not the smallest – 13 students. There are schools with fewer students in neighbouring areas. Now children are forced to travel 40 kilometers daily to Pokrovka and back. The child is on his feet and on the road daily from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., the father of the adopted child, a resident of Old Shalt Mansur Gilaev, shares his experiences with Orenday correspondents.

His son has serious health problems, constant headaches. The child was treated at the Orenburg Children's Clinical Hospital, but will still need medical support. The father is afraid to send him daily to another village 20 kilometers away and is worried about the health of his son. Svetlana Ivasyuk, deputy head of the Abdulina district for social policy, according to residents, was adamant: the decision to close has already been made, it is useless to be outraged. Moreover, complaints to higher authorities are returned back to the same administration, and the school was decided to close because of “uninhabitability”. “Perhaps officials are confusing something. Children are not cows, they cannot and should not be profitable.

At the general meeting, people were outraged, disagreed, protested against the closure of the nine-year plan. Officials listened, but the school was closed. The parents wrote an appeal to the prosecutor’s office and received a response that the administration, it turns out, interviewed people as it should, and there were no appeals from residents to officials. “It was established that on the basis of the decree of the administration of the Abdulina municipal district of 25.08.2026 No. 1082-r eliminated MBOU “Staroshalta OOSH”. The basis for liquidation is the economic unprofitability of the content of this educational institution. The audit established that the administration held a meeting of the commission to assess the consequences of the decision to reorganize or liquidate the educational organization, conducted a survey of residents of the village of Old Shalty. There were no complaints from residents about the closure of the school to the administration. According to the results of the inspection, your arguments about the illegal closure of the school have not been confirmed, the Abdulina Interdistrict Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement.

The Ministry of Education of the Orenburg region reported that "the decision to reorganize or liquidate a municipal educational organization located in a rural settlement is not allowed without taking into account the opinion of residents." As in these cases, the “explaining of the opinion” of residents in the villages of the Orenburg region, the editorial board of Orenday vyingly tell people from different settlements of the region. Also in the Minobra reported that according to the results of the survey of LLC "Archstroyexpert" the condition of load-bearing walls, windows of the school, entrance groups, wooden windows and floors "limitedly workable." When monitoring the condition of the building, the school could work, it is not an emergency. But if a peremptory decision is made to liquidate, then it is not up to investing in repairs.

What often happens to the buildings of closed rural schools is also clear: first they try to sell them unsuccessfully, then they deteriorate and turn into ruins. But the residents of Old Schultes still hope to return the children to their school. While this can be done: the building has not yet fallen into disrepair, there is a teaching staff, because of the closed school, families have not yet left the village. This requires only a strong-willed decision.

The Old Humps story isn't just about closing one school. This is an example of how a formal approach to “taking into account the opinions of residents” is destroying villages. A school with more than a century of history, a good staff and 13 pupils is closing due to “unableness”, although schools with fewer children are operating in neighboring areas. For parents, this means that their children will spend several hours a day on the road, and for a child with health problems, this load can be dangerous. The prosecutor's office formally confirmed that the procedure was followed: the survey was conducted, the commission met. But residents say they haven't been heard. And this is a key problem: when “opinion” is only taken into account on paper, the decision is made without real dialogue. The school building is not an emergency, there are teachers, families have not left yet - so there is a chance to save the school. But this requires not a formal, but a real desire of the authorities to listen to people.

Do you think that “economic unprofitability” should be a sufficient reason for the closure of rural schools, or should priority be given to access to education and the opinion of residents?