The bankruptcy of the children’s camps and COVID-19: the summer vacation may not take place

Recently, the representatives of the Moscow Federation of Trade Unions (MFTU) turned to the head of the Russian capital. The reason for the appeal was the difficult situation in which the children's health camps found themselves. No one can say for sure when the pandemic will end, but the children’s summer vacation is likely not to happen.

In April, many camps had already begun preparations for the opening of the summer season, but now this is practically impossible due to the restrictions. In his appeal, MFTU Chairman Mikhail Antontsev recalled that the activity was suspended until early June.

The complete abolition of the summer season may lead to the bankruptcy of the majority of children's camps.

The federation suggests overcoming these risks by the inclusion of the health camps in the register of enterprises to which the corresponding benefits will be applied. In particular, it is planned to temporarily exempt them from the rent payments, and freeze a number of social obligations for payments to various funds.

However, the experts note that the children's health camps located in the regions of our vast country are in a more difficult situation. As it was previously noted by the press service of the RUT (Russian Union of Tourism), a demand for the children's camps trips fell completely due to the threat of infection. Many institutions, working with children exclusively in the summer have already, lost their annual budgets. According to the RUT, a significant part of the stationary camps (more than 700) are organizations, owned by small businesses or even ANPOs (autonomous non-profit organizations). Some of them are being leased. Naturally, the threat of bankruptcy is becoming more and more obvious for them.

A number of experts propose to solve the problem by transferring the shifts from the summer time to the autumn-winter period.

This could partially alleviate the difficult situation with the need to pay the taxes and wages to the staff. The Ministry of Education so far decided not to intervene in the problem, shifting it to the shoulders of the regional authorities. The latter, according to the federal officials, should better navigate the epidemiological situation and take it into account.

It is known that the Public Organization “Promotion of the Children's Rest” has already applied to the President.

The employees emphasize that the rescuing of the camps is not only the protection of the expensive infrastructure, estimated at billions of rubles, but also a preservation of jobs for more than 200 thousand people.

Will the market participants ultimately be able to find a balance of interests with the government officials? According to Marina Gritsun, who is representing the UOCAT (Union of Organizers of Children's Active Tourism), states that it is important to work together with all departments to find the optimal position in solving this issue. Many experts point out that leaving the children in the cities or in care of elderly people in the current situation can be more dangerous than sending them to the camps outside the city under the supervision of teachers and doctors.