Nevertheless, about 20% of Russian teachers risk never crossing the threshold of their alma mater in the new academic year. According to the recommendations of the Ministry of Higher Education and Science, higher educational institutions are advised to switch teachers over 65 from full-time studies to distance education.
According to medical reports, the elderly are at higher risk of infection or severe illness from COVID-19. A number of regions still maintain self-isolation for such citizens. The question is whether it is possible to move a large number of 65+ teachers online without losing the quality of education, and whether teachers themselves want to do that.
According to the data provided by the Ministry of Education and Science for the year of 2019, almost 20% of teachers over 65 were employed in Russian universities. The largest number of older teachers is in the Kaliningrad Oblast (28.1%), Saint Petersburg (25%) and the Chukchi Autonomous Okrug (25%). Almost one in four teachers (24.7%) in Moscow reached the age of 65. Altogether in Russia there are about 44,600 teachers over 65+, most of them holding a PhD or a Doctoral Degree.
“In our university it has already been decided that teachers over 65+ will not be able to start face-to-face classes in September, and teachers were not asked whether they agree or not”, shared anonymously a teacher from one of the Moscow universities. “It is planned that the timetable will be organised in such a way that on certain days students will have only online classes, taught by older teachers. Most teachers are not happy with this prospect and consider it discriminatory, and many have problems working in distance learning programmes. We fear that switching to online studies will be followed by a reduction in hours and salaries. Many students and their parents were dissatisfied with distance learning and will be against a mixed education option. As a result, some of the hours taught by older teachers could go to younger teachers forever. And for many professors, whose work is their life, this loss is worse than coronavirus. Moreover, the loss of the most experienced teachers from higher educational institutions will inevitably affect the quality of teaching.”
How the new rules of the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor) will affect the work of higher educational institutions and older teaching staff, Rector of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation Mikhail Eskindarov told Moskovskij Komsomolets,
