I. Metshin: “Are we preparing people who can pass exams or successful citizens of the country?”

(KZN.RU, August 23, Mikhail Chentsov). The future in the field of education in Kazan are the subject of multi-disciplinary schools, developing technical, engineering, and IT-areas, the centers of education, which guide their children from kindergarten. Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, expressed this opinion, speaking about the importance of career counseling, during the city's August conference of educators in the Volga Academy of Physical Culture, Sports, and Tourism.

The Mayor noted that the capital of Tatarstan is famous for centuries-old traditions of higher education but the career counseling process was neglected in the city and throughout the country in the 90s. “Everyone tried to arrange as best they could and where they could. Today we again came to the fact that a person should make a meaningful choice of his professional future already at school”, said I. Metshin.

He noted that a number of actions to correct the current situation is being done in the city. "In the spring of this year, project sessions were held with all directors, head teachers, and teachers. The subject of the discussion was a portrait of our graduate, whom we are preparing in our schools: people who can pass exams or successful citizens of the country. The result was a program to improve the Kazan education system, which is now moving in three directions”, marked the Mayor.

I. Metshin called the improvement of the training system one of the main tasks. According to the Mayor of Kazan, the new federal standards oblige the city's leadership to reconsider its approaches to professional development. So, it has already been decided to send the first group of directors to Moscow for training on September 17, where they will be trained as mentors and will be able to transfer this experience in Kazan.

The second important direction, announced by the Mayor, was the issue of school unification. The experience of Moscow, St. Petersburg, and abroad was studied before the start of the work. “We came to the conclusion that copying is not our option and developed our model of unification and combining the best practices of both schools, rethinking the experience that will be laid in new strategies for their development”, said I. Metshin.

The third direction of the education system development is the revision of the rating criteria for the Kazan schools. The rating indicators should be real, really measurable, independent and should take into account the specifics of the particular school and the strategic goals that it aims to fulfill in order to be in demand by parents and children. “I see the future for multi-disciplinary schools, for schools developing technical, engineering, and IT-areas, the educational centers that guide their children from kindergarten”, said the Mayor.

I. Metshin noted that inter-school training facilities, which not so long ago began to revive in Kazan, will become assistants in the vocational guidance. “They are entrusted with an important mission in the vocational guidance of schoolchildren and training in the basics of various professions. Maybe a child is a brilliant mechanic or a virtuoso mill operator, but he doesn’t know about it since he was holding only a spoon and a computer mouse”, he said.

According to the Mayor of Kazan, this line of work is especially important on the eve of the WorldSkills-2019 Championship, which will be held in the capital of Tatarstan.