A school in Yekaterinburg introduced a strange schedule.

      An unusual schedule has been introduced at Yekaterinburg School No. 125 on Chekistov Street — some classes now do not meet in the morning or the afternoon, but start in the middle of the day. According to parents, seventh-graders begin lessons at 9:45 a.m., and eighth-graders at 11:40 a.m. At the same time the first shift starts at 8:00 a.m., and the second at 1:30 p.m.

      "Because of this schedule, children can't make it to after-school clubs and sports sections," complained a reader of E1.RU. "They also have to do homework, so they either have to skip training sessions or give up activities they've been doing for years. The school is taking in far more students than it can accommodate."

      School No. 125 is located in the Pionersky microdistrict. The building was constructed in 1967; it has a gym and a small cafeteria with 120 seats, combined with an assembly hall. There are currently 1,005 children enrolled. Parents believe that a lack of space and the cafeteria's capacity may have led to the emergence of a "middle shift."

      The Kirov District education department explained that the schedule was drawn up in accordance with the law.

      "This is not a third shift. Lessons for seventh- and eighth-grade students start with the second or third lessons of the first shift," the department said.

      Earlier it was reported that the number of people poisoned in the locker room of a Yekaterinburg lyceum rose to 20.

      The school in the Novosibirsk region that partially collapsed was built in 1937.