The main participants of the meeting were the principals of 350 Russian schools, mostly from the academic partners of the Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University . Specifically, the educational institutions involved in the "Leader of Schools of Russia" project and UNESCO-associated schools.
According to Anzor Muzaev, the head of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science (Rosobrnadzor), who participated in the session remotely via video conference, this kind of large-scale "closeness" between school principals and university representatives is happening for the first time.
The meeting, like the "Leader of Schools of Russia" project, was initiated by the oldest technical university in the country as an important element of its work to improve the domestic higher education model. The university has been conducting this event for the third consecutive year as part of a pilot project in accordance with the presidential decree dated May 12, 2023.
Anzor Muzaev spoke about the importance of ensuring seamless education at all levels, the overload of educational standards, the problem of students losing motivation for comprehensive learning, and supported the key initiatives of the Saint Petersburg Mining University regarding the school reform.
Without a qualitative improvement in school education, a full reform of the university system is impossible. To discuss and develop recommendations on this crucial topic, along with school principals and staff from the Mining University, the meeting was attended by Deputy Minister of Education Olga Koludarova, Head of the Saint Petersburg Committee for Science and Higher Education Andrey Maksimov, Coordinator of Educational Programs of the Russian Commission for UNESCO Ksenia Gaverdvskaya, and experts in the field of education.
In his opening speech, Rector of the Mining University, Professor Vladimir Litvinenko, noted that the state, as a regulator, is not fully fulfilling its functions today. Therefore, it is crucial for the combined efforts of the school and university communities to identify the main negative trends and find ways to correct the situation. According to him, improving the quality of school education must begin with goal-setting and understanding the role and responsibility of both the teacher and the student.
«The teacher should not be just a transmitter of a certain set of knowledge. His role is much broader. He is primarily a mentor and educator who shapes the worldview of the student, helping them determine their place in the world. This already defines the teacher’s functions and subjectivity in a fundamentally different way. With such specialists, we will in the future create a different economy and qualitatively improve the situation in the country as a whole.
Today's school graduate is, as a rule, a "semi-finished product," who in recent years of study has been focused solely on passing the OGE or EGE exams, with little attention paid to anything else. Therefore, instead of knowing five subjects that will be needed in university, they only know one or two. This is a huge problem for universities, as school subjects are closely connected with university subjects.
Starting from this year's admissions campaign, the Mining University will take into account the average grade of the school diploma when admitting students. It is important for us that future students know the school program without exceptions. However, in general across the country, the school diploma, as the final document of completion, has practically lost its significance in the system of evaluating students when applying to universities » – said Vladimir Litvinenko.
In the introductory report, the rector shared his vision of the main pain points in the school system. These include, in particular, the lack of a unified, coherent, and methodologically sound school curriculum and the shortage of teachers due to the exodus of staff to the rapidly growing private tutoring market. He also told the meeting participants about the main parameters of the new university model currently being developed and already implemented by the Mining University.
In the second part of the meeting, two panel sessions took place with experts: one on methods to improve the continuity between school education and higher education programs and the effectiveness of current methodologies for personality development and worldview formation in schools, as well as existing practices for implementing engineering education. Among the experts were, in particular, Maxim Pratusevich, director of the Physics and Mathematics Lyceum No. 239 in Saint Petersburg, and Andrey Konkin, director of the "Mining" Author's School.
The participants of the event decided to support the proposal of the initiative group, which suggested the creation of a Public-Professional Pedagogical Collegium at the International Center for Competence in Mining Education under the auspices of UNESCO. Its main goal is to develop proposals for improving the effectiveness of public education organizations and to provide a collective expert opinion to the country's leadership.
At the end of the first day of the session, the results of an express survey of school principals were announced. The overwhelming majority of participants, 83%, expressed support for the standardization and unification of school programs, and for the creation of unified textbooks for each subject. Almost equally unanimously (73%), respondents supported the thesis: "Distance learning always worsens the quality of education." 71% expressed concern over the insufficient role of parents in the school learning process. Principals also mostly supported reducing the amount of homework – fully (36%) or for subjects where answers can be easily found on the internet (another 36%).
38% of school principals rated the staffing of their schools with mathematics, physics, and chemistry teachers as a major problem. 42% said there were partial issues, but they were solvable. Only 20% of schools were fully staffed.
Alongside the academic session, another large-scale event kicked off at the Mining University on Wednesday, March 26 – the All-Russian Science Research Project Competition for High School Students, "School Premier League." Young researchers presented their group projects on 17 topics, including physics, chemistry, mechanical engineering, construction, and oil and gas.
The presentation will continue on Thursday, March 27. On the same day, the Chairman of the Council under the President of the Russian Federation for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights, Valery Fadeev, will conduct a session titled "Introduction of an Integral (Average) Assessment of Student Mastery of Core General Education Programs in Basic General and Secondary General Education."
On Friday, March 28, case competitions among participants of the "School Premier League" are scheduled, followed by the overall conclusion and summary of results.