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President Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, dear colleagues,

I would like to discuss a number of questions concerning the modernisation of our education system today. We discussed a lot of different issues when we last met a year ago. I would like to begin by just reminding you what we talked about then and by saying a few words about how the agreements we reached then are being implemented.

Last year we discussed the problem of privatised companies purchasing the land on which they are located. This was one of the key issues we spoke about, though it was not the only problem raised. Now we can look at what results we have achieved and can say that some progress has been made. Above all, I fully share your point of view that the acquisition cost of such land should not be burdensome for the companies concerned.

I am aware of the compromise reached through a consultation process that the purchase cost of such land should be equivalent to 2.5 percent of the land’s cadastre value. I support this approach and I think that this rule should be established in all the regions. I am also aware that an exception has been made for Moscow and St Petersburg with their specific status of capital city and their developed infrastructure.

Now, turning to the main subject of today’s discussion, I would first of all like to thank you for the sincere interest you are taking in the realisation of the priority national projects. We all know very well that these projects are not a panacea that will resolve every problem this country faces, but, as I have said many times, they give us the signal to move in the right direction in order to make our country more prosperous and to give our business an accordingly better foundation for its stable development. Education, as one of our biggest priorities, has a particularly significant role to play in this respect.

You know through your own experience that companies’ demand for qualified specialists with up-to-date skills and knowledge is not being met. I cannot even say that it is not being fully satisfied, for the reality is more serious than that. And both the state and private sectors are equally affected by this problem.

I am not just referring here to university graduates. Every year sees increasing demand for skilled workers, for production foremen and mid-level specialists. There is a shortage of such people in the country and we need to move quickly to train the needed specialists for various different sectors.

We must therefore combine our efforts to help develop vocational education. This is all the more important as quite a few companies have already begun paying for young people to study in relevant vocational schools and community colleges with the idea that they will gain the necessary skills and then return to these enterprises. But this kind of programme has not yet been developed on a systemic basis and does not change the picture as a whole.

This issue was raised last week at a meeting of the State Council and we talked in particular about the need to develop a system that would react to the labour market’s objective demand for different types of specialists. Alexander Nikolayevich [Shokhin, the President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (Employers)] has also just addressed this same issue.

We need for the business community to take part in setting professional standards. Only the market participants themselves can really establish and formulate these standards and then propose them to the relevant agencies and educational establishments to be used in training specialists that meet the market’s demand. The business community in general, you here today, your specialists, could participate directly in the education process, including by holding certain classes and offering tests. I meet regularly with you who are here today and with other colleagues of yours and I have heard on many occasions that you continue to face the situation, especially in high-tech production sectors, where new people join the enterprise and the training process has to begin practically from scratch. Of course, company directors, managers and owners all have an interest establishing a training system that will work effectively at every level to train specialists who are ready to join the work process and produce results straight away.

We also need to support the institution of boards of trustees for our higher education establishments. Boards of trustees are not just an important factor of public involvement but are also important in securing financial support for higher education establishments.

Now I would like to say a few words about education loans. Education loans are an important tool for making higher education more accessible. The Ministry of Education and Science is currently completing work on the rules and regulations for state support for this loans scheme. Initially it will be tested as an experiment in several higher education establishments, and business can participate directly in this project. The loans will be made by agent banks, the list of which will be established by holding tenders.

Another issue that requires our attention is the definition of criteria for evaluating the quality of training and for establishing the list of skills and professions in demand on the labour market. The state and the business community should work together on drawing up these criteria.

We need to introduce a ratings system for evaluating the performance of our higher education establishments. This calls for the development of independent ratings agencies whose information would be made available to the public. An educational institution can not not be considered of high standing merely by virtue of its historical background; the public needs to be able to see that it also meets the demands of the times and produces needed results that can be objectively evaluated.

We realise that it is difficult to forecast the labour market’s long-term needs and development, but we have ample opportunity for conducting analysis and expert studies, and this is something that both the state and the business community have an interest in doing.

Finally, with your participation and with the help of small businesses, we can take more rapid and effective steps to provide educational establishments with the necessary instruments, modern laboratories and equipment they need.

I know that you are also actively engaged in establishing business schools in Russia. The state has also set aside funds for the creation of business schools, including as part of the national project. But if you should need assistance in carrying out your own programmes and projects in this area, we are absolutely open to the idea of working together. By all means turn to the Presidential Executive Office and the Government, and we shall do everything we can to help. As at our meeting last year, we can discuss today any questions that you think important, all the more so as we do not often get the chance to meet in this format.