Ilsur Metshin: “Last academic year proved the forefront of the Kazan Education”

(KZN.RU, 24 August). The last academic year has once again proved the forefront of the Kazan Education in the Republic of Tatarstan and in Russia as a whole. Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, said this today at the city August conference of educators, which was held in the educational-laboratory building of the Volga Region Academy of Sport and Tourism.

The Mayor recalled that Kazan has traditionally been in the top three of school competitions, second only to Moscow and St. Petersburg. “And they are superior to us for the number of students”, noted I. Metshin. “Chelyabinsk and Novosibirsk is almost on a par with us, so we cannot lower the bar”, he said. “I am confident that we will achieve new victories in the new year. The value of these victories not only in the ranks and rewards, but students and teachers get invaluable experience, knowledge and skills, hone traits, which these kids need now, like mindfulness, stress resistance, and the will to win”.

Ilsur Metshin noted that almost two-thirds of the city's budget has traditionally directed to the needs of urban education. Despite the difficult economic situation, the grant support system for gifted children and teachers maintained, free meals for children from low-income families at the expense of the city budget is saved in full.

Ilsur Hadiullin, the head of Education Department, said that 20 million rubles have been allocated for grants for gifted children and teachers, preparing them, from the city budget in 2016. It is possible to organize training camps, invite well-known trainers and university professors. The number of students and teachers, which were awarded with the Mayor grant by the results of competitions, has increased by 1.5 times. More than 15 million rubles have been allocated to it from the city budget. 495 children and 338 teachers received grants in 2016, in 2015 there were 323 and 224 respectively.

Ilsur Metshin pointed out that the major repair of schools continues, and overhaul of kindergartens started. Three-quarters (75%) of Kazan schools were repaired through the presidential overhaul program.

Engel Fattakhov, the deputy Prime Minister of the RT and the Minister of Education and Science of the RT, said that 717 schools were repaired in the republic for the overhaul program in five years. "Everywhere, except Kazan and Naberezhnye Chelny, we have solved this problem”, he said.

The head of Ministry of Education of the RT noted that the start of the federal program of school construction is given. According to E. Fattahova, the school in Naberezhnye Chelny will be commissioned this year; in addition, funds, received under the co-financing from the federal budget, will be spent on the construction of schools in Kazan.

About 900 preschool educational institutions will be overhauled in five years in Tatarstan.

"Recently, we were happy that the problem of providing Kazan children with places in kindergartens is almost solved, thanks to the support of Rustam Minnikhanov, the President of Tatarstan, and the program “Belekech”. But today it is relevant again”, noted Ilsur Metshin in his speech. “The birth rate continues to gain momentum. It makes us happy, because about to give birth to the second and third child, Kazan citizens confidently look to the future, hope for a good future for themselves and their children. This places a special responsibility on us, and we will do everything to ensure that our children grew up happy, healthy and talented. We will build kindergartens, new roads, houses, plant trees and to arrange well the public space”.

According to I. Metshin, the goal is to make the city of Kazan comfortable for living. He cited the following data: according to a recent survey, the level of trust in the society in Kazan is 0.65 points. This is above the national average, as well as indicators of France, Poland, and Italy. “It's good for us, but we still have room for improvement”, assured the Mayor.

He drew attention to the fact that many of the best students leaving Kazan to continue their studies in universities in other cities. “On the one hand, we are happy for them and proud of their success, on the other - we want them to realize their potential at home to ensure socio-economic development of the city”, said Ilsur Metshin . “These young minds are our main social value, and we must create conditions for the house of self-expression. Investing in our children's substantial resources and efforts, we want them to become cultured, educated and creative citizens of Kazan”.

I. Metshin marked that universities should be competitive and business oriented. “We need to follow the trends in the labor market in addition to the quality of educational services. There are excellent examples of cooperation with universities of our businesses”, said I. Metshin. According to him, Kazan is a major industrial center; there will always be demand for engineers, chemists, programmers, builders and architects. Workers are sorely lacking in the capital: the masons, turners, fitters, crane operators, etc. The Mayor of Kazan said that the city will take the championship of working professions “Worldskills Competition” already in 2019. “We have no doubt that we will take the guests and hold the event at the highest level. The fact is that these professions should be as prestigious as the profession of lawyers and economists. This requires a decent wage and high quality of secondary vocational education”, said Ilsur Metshin.

The ceremony of awarding the best Kazan workers of education was held at the end of the conference.