Class struggle: 40% of teachers did not feel the reduction in "paperwork" work

About 40% of Russian teachers did not notice a reduction in the bureaucratic burden after the adoption in 2022 of a law limiting the list of mandatory reporting. This is evidenced by the results of a survey conducted by the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights (HRC), which was reviewed by Izvestia. Another 7% of respondents said that the volume of bureaucratic work has even increased during this time. At the same time, Rosobrnadzor previously claimed that the number of documents that teachers must fill out has decreased by 25 times.

"Extra" burden on teachers

Almost half of teachers do not see any positive changes in reducing the bureaucratic burden on them, according to a survey of teachers on key issues on the agenda of the HRC 2023-2025. His results are available to Izvestia.

Thus, 40% of the respondents did not notice a decrease in the bureaucratic burden, and 7% believe that it has become even worse.

Back in 2015, Vladimir Putin proposed to reduce the "paper" burden on teachers. Since then, measures have been taken on this issue. In 2022, a law was passed reducing the bureaucratic burden on teaching staff. According to it, electronic document management should not be duplicated in paper form, and teachers are no longer required to prepare reports outside the list approved by the Ministry of Education. It was assumed that the innovation would dramatically reduce the burden on teachers, who previously had to fill out 49 different documents.

In 2025, the head of Rosobrnadzor, Anzor Muzaev, announced a 25-fold reduction in the paper load.

However, in practice, as the teachers themselves note, the load has not disappeared, but has changed its shape. A significant part of the reporting has moved to electronic format, while new requirements have emerged.

"Every day, orders are received to participate in events. The question arises: when to teach?" — noted by the survey participants.

Additional responsibilities include regular photo reports, publications in school communities, and registration on various digital platforms.

According to the teachers, the reduction in paperwork did not lead to a reduction in the overall workload.

"Orders come throughout the day, and after school we have to prepare reports and publications," said one of the respondents.

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Lawyers recommended contacting the prosecutor's office and the court in such cases.

The HRC recognizes the problem. To solve it, a special working group was created with the participation of experts on the basis of Rosatom.

According to the head of the council, Valery Fadeev, the pilot schools have managed to reduce the bureaucratic burden by about half. However, so far this experience has not become widespread.

—These 40% should eventually turn into at least 4%," he stressed.

Separately, he criticized the practice of photo reports, calling it excessive.

Analyzing the survey results, Ekaterina Smoroda, head of the HRC working group on education, noted that it is not only the bureaucratic burden on teachers that is important, but their overall workload.

What are the teachers complaining about?

The trade unions confirm that complaints about the additional workload come from different regions.

As Olga Miryasova, the organizational secretary of the Teacher trade union, explained, a significant part of the reporting is related to the activities of classroom teachers, which often do not have clear regulations.

"This creates an opportunity to shift a variety of tasks onto them," she noted.

In particular, we are talking about monitoring students' documents, collecting data on benefits, catering and other administrative functions. Classroom teachers are also required to check during the year whether everything is in order with the registration of a foreign student. And also to monitor whether his parents are listed in the register of controlled persons.

"This is definitely not the activity of a homeroom teacher,— she assured.

According to Olga Miryasova, a few years ago, the Ministry of Education promised to work with departments so that they would not load schools with such reports. However, little has changed.

In addition, teachers face technical problems: the annual change of electronic journals, system failures and lack of equipment.

—Electronic means of communication do not always work, especially considering that not all regions have mobile Internet access all the time, and there are not enough computers in schools," Olga Miryasova said. — The teacher has to do his work at home.

According to her, even the director is quite defenseless, he can be fired at any time without explanation.

"They try not to conflict with their leadership and with the municipal authorities," she added.

The situation varies depending on the region. Thus, in Moscow, according to trade unions, the problem of double document management has been largely solved thanks to the development of the Moscow Electronic School platform. Previously, teachers had to keep both paper and electronic journals, but now this practice has practically disappeared.

At the same time, the workload remains high in other regions.

Experts believe that in order to really reduce the workload, it is necessary to limit the flow of requests to schools from various departments, as well as more clearly regulate the duties of teachers. In particular, we are talking about reducing unusual functions and reviewing the requirements for educational work.

In the meantime, despite the formal reduction in reporting, a significant number of teachers continue to face a high administrative burden — only in a new, digital form.