In Chechnya, three principals are accused of abuse of powers

Directors of three secondary schools of the Gudermes District of Chechnya will stand trial on charges of misuse of powers. According to law enforcement bodies of Chechnya, their violations were revealed by prosecutors last September.

"In September last year, directors of three general schools of the Gudermes District issued orders on paying bonuses to teachers. For this purpose, they received 339,000 roubles. However, in violation of the law, the money was not paid as premiums; and principals spent it on other purposes, namely, on repairs of schools, that is, not to the intended purpose," a law enforcer told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to investigators, the principals asked their subordinates to indicate that they had received their premiums and put signatures in faked payrolls.

The source said that the culprits are now under threat of a huge fine or deprivation of freedom for up to four years.

The position of the principals or their lawyers is still unknown.

Meanwhile, one of the colleagues of the accused directors, who wished to remain anonymous, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that violations of this kind are no rarity in educational and other institutions of the republic.

"The very today's system is pushing directors to break the law. For example, an order comes 'from the top' to make repairs in schools, but funds are not provided," said the director of one of district schools, noting that directors of educational institutions are forced to seek funds on repairs by any means.

An activist of one of local NGOs added the story by saying that principals have to pay to various inspectors and officials from the Ministry of Education.

"Our schools are 'taxed' by a variety of fees. At the very start of this school year, directors of all the schools were ordered to pay out certain sums, reaching 50,000 roubles. Asking bureaucrats where a school director should take the money and where or for whom the money is considered 'indecent'," said Ramzan, an activist of a local NGO.

At the same time, last week, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Chechen Republic announced that directors of 52 schools of the republic may lose their posts because of their numerous violations in work revealed during checks conducted in January-February this year.

According to a ministry official, the major violations revealed in the course of the checks assumed various breaches of the Law of the Russian Federation "On Education"; failure to observe sanitary and other norms of maintaining their schools; lack of proper control over the educational process, documentation-keeping and cadre issues; as well as "the inability of many managers to use personal computers."

So far, the ministry gave no comments on accusations of money extortion from directors.