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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon. First of all, I would like to congratulate all of you.

Remark: Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: Congratulations on being part of the group of top professionals, there are fifteen of you, am I right? The fifteen best teachers of the year. I am sure the choice was not easy, it was made by experts whom you can trust, and this means it is based on objective criteria of the quality of your work.

I would like to thank you and to wish you all the best.

Remark: Thank you.

Education and Science Minister Olga Vasilyeva: Mr President, one or two questions, with your permission.

Ivan Smirnov: Mr President, good afternoon.

My name is Ivan Smirnov; I am a biology teacher at Moscow School No 171.

Moscow is actively developing pre-professional education: it opens medicine, cadet, engineering and chemical classes to help children make an informed choice of their future career. Upon graduation, they take pre-professional exams. I think this kind of experience might be interesting for the regions as well.

Therefore, my question, or suggestion is the following: when enrolling in a university, a graduate can receive up to ten additional points for their achievements portfolio. I believe those who took pre-professional training and passed the examination are motivated and will become good professionals. Is there a possibility to increase the number of points for pre-professional training to 25?

Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: First of all, this is a good practice, the sooner this career decision takes place, the better. Therefore, I absolutely support this idea; it should be worked out with the Ministry of Education.

Olga Vasilyeva: Mr President, Ivan holds a Ph.D. at the Lomonosov Moscow State University Biology Department.

Vladimir Putin: This is impressive, and the proposal is good.

Ilya Demakov: Mr President, my name is Ilya Demakov; I am a history teacher from St Petersburg.

Several years ago, in a similar situation my colleague asked you whom of the Russian historical figures you would call the most important. I would like to know, on his behalf too, if your opinion has changed since then.

Vladimir Putin: And what did I say then?

Ilya Demakov: Alexander III.

Vladimir Putin: Yes, Alexander III was a prominent political figure, one of the builders of our state.

We have had many prominent personalities. It is hard to name just one. Actually, the key figure is the people. Their moral and ethical qualities should be studied because this is where the power is, as well as the foundation of everything.

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