Summer holidays for children: whom the state will help, but who will pay the full rate themselves

In the summer, every family with children is looking for answers to these questions.

Irina Mishina

Invitations to summer camps for children began to pour in huge numbers in my mail since mid-May. Most of the proposals were from city day camps, a very short stay with a minimum of comfort and activities, but with a maximum of payment.

Children as an object of business

For example, the "Summer IT Club" in Moscow cost only 36,100 rubles for 12 days. It would seem that here it is, a dream. But in fact, your child should spend these 12 days at home at the computer: classes are held in remote classes, where up to 16 people in a group. No, of course there are options for future IT specialists. For example, Creative intellectual educational computer camp for children 9-19 years old . From there, “your child will return not only with new knowledge and communication skills, but also with a lot of impressions from an active and useful holiday”, - the organizers assure. "Accommodation in a comfortable historical park hotel, excursion to Skolkovo, master classes from mentors and teachers, sports games." The issue price is 93,642 rubles for 2 weeks. And it's discounted. Without it - about 100 thousand rubles.

There are a lot of day camps in the city. The prices for them seem to be low, but the child will be busy there for only a few hours, often without food. That is, the question of how to take a child in the absence of parents, this will not solve. For example, a mathematical intensive from the "Creative Laboratory Twice Two" in Moscow: a set of summer courses in mathematics, Russian, English and even beading with shipbuilding for only 12-16 thousand in 3 days. If it's 9 days, multiply by three. If 18 days, multiply by six. Only all this without food and entertainment, of course. And only in the morning. And in a group of up to 10 people. And if you want a rest for your child with benefit, and even an educational program - here this year the price tag has skyrocketed, despite the crisis and inflation. For example, in the most popular sports and language camps today (where all the charms are: English with a native speaker, swimming pools, laser tag and photo shoots) - the cost for 2 weeks is from 90 thousand and more.

There are thousands of such ads on the Internet now. The most economical camps are located in the suburbs or in the southern part of Russia. The further you have to travel, the more expensive the ticket will cost. For example, already now, on request "children's rest in the Moscow region" in most sanatoriums there are no more free rooms. They are not in "Bullfinches", in the popular "Luzhki" and in "Iskra". Even in three-star health-improving children's institutions near Moscow, all places are booked.

In addition to the location, several factors influence the prices in the summer children's camp: the size of the camp, living conditions, infrastructure, the number of adults working with children; food; activities and recreation programs. This year, the cost of travel should also be added to the cost of the camp, taking into account the changed logistics. If this is a camp by the sea, then the price will increase many times over. The duration of the shift also affects the cost. If you are looking for a children's camp for your child, then you should pay attention: most of them are now run by tour operators. For some time now, children's recreation has become a business, and very profitable.

“All major tour operators, such as Coral Travel or Tez Tour, have departments responsible for children's tourism. Some companies specialize only in this area, such as Robinsonade, - said Irina Peresetskaya, general director of the Robinsoniade agency. When asked why there are so few travel companies that organize children's holidays, Ms. Peresetskaya answers: “The main reason is that there is much more responsibility, and much less margin. Parents on a subconscious level are not ready to pay more for a child's ticket than they are used to paying for their vacation. They often ask: “Why, if I go on vacation, the cost is this, but if my child is more?” I have to explain: when an adult goes on a tour, he does not need an escort, when a child travels, escorts (who need to pay a salary) must be without fail. Experts also believe that the maintenance of a children's camp is very expensive: its organization must comply with a huge number of requirements and SanPiN established by Rospotrebnadzor. That is why today there are not many enthusiasts who are ready to engage in this line of business, although every year the demand for trips to domestic children's camps exceeds supply.

I do not like? Sit at home!

Today in Russia there is no state register of children's health institutions and a single structure that would coordinate the organization of children's recreation. In 2009, children's recreation was transferred from the federal to the regional level. As a result, children's recreation has become dependent on the financial capabilities of the regions: for example, in the Moscow and Leningrad regions, in the Krasnodar Territory, there are opportunities to finance children's recreation. In other regions with children's recreation, everything is more than modest. In addition, today there are practically no enterprises capable of maintaining their own children's health-improving children's camps; they have remained with a few structures - such as Russian Railways and Gazprom. As a result, many children's camps ended up in private ownership and were converted by new owners into commercial enterprises. For example, the Yunga camp in the Leningrad region has turned into an entertainment center with a strip club, the Stroitel and Blue Screen children's institutions in Voronezh have become a sauna and a swimming pool.

Underfunding leads to the fact that children's camps are destroyed and dilapidated. But they continue to be exploited, pumping money out of every square meter. Here, for example, is what Anastasia writes in her review of one of the camps in the Yaroslavl region79: “Yesterday was the arrival and the beginning of the first summer shift. We brought our daughter by car. My husband and I were shocked, the ticket costs so much money, but in fact the old buildings, furniture “back to the USSR”, what is the first place in the Russian Federation and the Yaroslavl region in question? According to the photos on the site and in the group, everything is so bright, a paradise for children, but in reality ?! Terrible, miserable beds, all faded, with bedsores, cabinets without doors, two toilets, in the toilet the bolts in one were torn out, in the other they were filled with paint, one shower room for 16 people !!! And it is TRANSPARENT! That is, they took a bath in which they wash their feet and pasted around with material from greenhouses. It stands in the middle of the room, where there are sinks and a toilet. There are no educators. That is, two girls without education are responsible for my child and thirty other similar children, for whom they themselves still need to be responsible.

And here is one of the reviews about the Modern Children's Camp "Like" (Ruzsky district). Angelina writes: “ Counselors drink alcohol, smoke, slaughter children, sometimes scream or severely punish for any oversight. The age difference between children and counselors is very small. They love to talk about children. If problems arise, there is only one answer: “If you don’t like it, stay at home!”. I won't go there again ."

Politics instead of sports

Today, there are practically no sports and health camps in the list of camps. The starting point for these changes was the tragedy at Syamozero in June 2016, when 14 children died there. After that, many tourist and sports camps simply disappeared. “Municipal officials, in order to protect themselves, practically reduced this direction to “no” with the help of various instructions, prohibitions, and instructions from inspectors. Instead of competently solving the problem of sports and tourist camps, our officials preferred to introduce restrictions. It is much easier and safer to open some kind of linguistic camp under a beautiful sign, where children will listen to foreign speech in headphones from morning to evening, and the tour operator will also express his gratitude as income from the cost of the tour”, - says Lieutenant General of Police Alexander Mikhailov.

But every year patriotic camps are gaining more and more momentum. According to NI, presidential grants are distributed annually to NGOs. Their sums with 6 zeros are impressive. Is any of these funds intended for children's summer vacations? “Unfortunately, most of these funds will go, as far as I know, to various “Children's Parliaments”, round tables, some kind of “council of children's deputies” will be created. All these rallies in Valdai, Seliger, for example, what did they give? What did the children learn there? Well, yes, they saw the president, demonstrated loyalty to the authorities. So, what is next? As a result, we nurture ambition, not personality. It is no secret that the social elevator in our country does not work for everyone. And what will happen next with these unfortunate children who pick up ambitions in these "children's parliaments", and then will not be able to realize themselves either in politics or in the managerial sphere? It would have been much more useful if a grant had been allocated for a vocational training camp and taught the children how to drive a tractor and understand agronomy. You see, a person would have mastered the necessary profession and would be useful as a professional in his village, region, region”, - said Lieutenant General of Police Alexander Mikhailov.

Who will help the state in the summer

Well, what about those who do not have money in the family budget for children's holidays? A few years ago, Tatiana Golikova, when she was still the Minister of Health, promised to organize recreation for children at the expense of budgetary funds. True, only a third of schoolchildren should have got free vouchers, according to Golikova. The state identifies 4 main categories of beneficiaries who can rest for free. These are orphans; children left without care; families where the income is below the subsistence level; single mothers. This year, children of the military who took part in the special operation and children from the DPR and LPR were added to the number of beneficiaries. To receive benefits, you must submit documents confirming the status. There are also free camps for families "in difficult situations". Reviews of such "free" camps are usually quite pessimistic. “ We ended up in one such camp. Most of the summer time, the children spent in a stuffy room, playing the same board games. In order to run on the sports ground, the counselors transferred them to the other side of the street, to the stadium, fenced with wire. The site was located in the courtyard of a residential building, not far from the roadway. In order to get into this camp, I had to do the almost impossible - get about a dozen certificates. I collected these documents for several weeks. Parents have been waiting in line for this summer camp since February. True, after the end of the shift, the child flatly refused to ever visit him”, - Irina Z told us.

Where is the exit? “At our initiative, the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation held hearings on the topic of children's camps. We came to the conclusion that there are two problems: the first is that there is no single federal executive body in charge of children's recreation, and the second is that there is no federal funding. And the people in general in Russia are poor, the population has a very low solvency. In Soviet times, children's vouchers were provided either free of charge or for 10% of the cost, the main expenses were borne by the enterprises to which the pioneer camps were attached. In the 1990s, organizations removed this "burden" from themselves, funding ceased, and the system of children's recreation began to crumble. Today, a public-private partnership program is needed to restore it”, - says Margarita Zolotykh, an expert at the professional publication of the hotel and tourism business HoReCa Magazine.

But after all, we have an Artek on the seashore, where children who have distinguished themselves during the year at various olympiads and competitions get absolutely free of charge. There is Sirius, an educational support center for gifted children in Russia, created by the Talent and Success Educational Foundation on the initiative of the President of Russia. Located in the very south of the Krasnodar Territory, in a picturesque place, by the sea, with an impressive infrastructure. And the children during the year have an incentive to achieve success in their studies and in certain subjects in order to get there completely free of charge. We also have camps "Matznaniya" - "Berendeevy Polyany" and "Scarlet Sails" in the Kostroma region, which invariably, from year to year, are very popular with children gifted in the field of exact sciences. Places are booked there in winter. True, in order to get into these camps, the child must prove his inclination towards physics and mathematics by certain successes in these subjects. As a result, a club of like-minded people gathers, who during the shift practice in the field of mathematics, linguistics, physics, English and go in for sports. And the price for a 14-day shift is below average, especially considering the cashback.

In general, the emerging trend - free or budgetary camps that bring together children who have shown their abilities in some direction as an encouragement for academic success, olympiads and project activities - is a promising thing. Investing in them public money means investing in the future of the country.