Russia's Ministry of Education launched the 'School of Trust' (Shkola Dostoya) psychological support hotline in September. The 24-hour line provides support to students, parents, and educators. It helps callers reduce emotional stress, better understand the situations they face, and find solutions, placing practical psychological assistance at the center of the service.
The hotline received nearly 3,000 calls in its first month and a half of operation. According to Sergey Krawtsov, head of the Ministry of Education, almost half of those appeals concerned specific psychological and social difficulties that young people and adults needed help with right away. The figure covers calls from across the groups served by the line, including students, parents, educators, other adults, and unidentified callers.
Students accounted for 40% of all calls, making them the largest caller category in the Ministry of Education's breakdown. The hotline is intended to provide psychological assistance to students facing emotional stress and difficult situations, with particular attention to their safety and to maintaining trust with significant adults in their lives.
The hotline gives special attention to bullying, conflicts within educational institutions, and family difficulties.
Parents represented 25.7% of calls, the second-largest share among the categories listed by the ministry. Parents are among the groups the hotline is designed to support. The service also places special emphasis on family difficulties, helping users understand the situations they face and identify possible solutions.
Teachers accounted for 1.5% of the hotline's calls. They are also among the intended users of the psychological support line. Together, students, parents, and teachers formed three of the categories in the ministry's account of who contacted the service during its first month and a half.
Other adults and unidentified callers made up 32.8% of calls. This category completed the ministry's breakdown of the nearly 3,000 appeals received since the hotline opened. The service supports students, parents, and educators, while also remaining available to other adults who contact the line with psychological or social difficulties.
The hotline gives special attention to bullying, conflicts within educational institutions, and family difficulties. These areas connect directly to its stated focus on child safety and maintaining trust with significant adults. By addressing these issues, the service aims to help callers reduce emotional stress, understand difficult situations, and find solutions.
The 'School of Trust' hotline is based on the Federal Coordination Center for the Development of Psychological and Pedagogical Assistance in the Education System of the Russian Federation at Moscow State University. This institutional base forms part of the service's stated organizational structure as it provides round-the-clock psychological support.
The service operates 24/7, ensuring that support is available throughout the day and night. Its work also focuses on maintaining trust between children and the significant adults around them. These elements—continuous availability, assistance with difficult situations, and attention to trust—shape the approach described by the Ministry of Education.
In its first month and a half, the hotline received nearly 3,000 calls. Students made up 40% of the total, parents 25.7%, teachers 1.5%, and other adults or unidentified callers 32.8%. The announcement also highlighted that almost half of all appeals involved specific psychological and social difficulties requiring immediate help. The 'School of Trust' continues to provide support to students, parents, and educators through a 24-hour line focused on emotional stress, difficult situations, and practical solutions.