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The Teacher of the Year national competition has been held annually since 1992 (in 1990–1991, it was held as the USSR Teacher of the Year). The competition was founded by the Ministry of Education, the National Union of Educators, and Uchitelskaya Gazeta newspaper. Ninety competitors took part in 2023’s national finale.

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, colleagues, or should I say good evening already.

I would like to greet you and, of course, congratulate you and, through you, all educators and citizens in our country on Teacher's Day.

This is more than a professional day. It is near and dear to almost all people in our country, everyone who is studying and teaching now, and everyone who went to school at some point. I would like to thank all of you for your hard work, care, and your generous hearts when it comes to children, and I wish you every success in your work.

Of course, I would like to congratulate the finalists and winners of the amazing Teacher of the Year competition on your excellent results – and not just congratulate you but wish you success as well. This is a spectacular and, hopefully, an intermediary result in your efforts because I am sure more achievements will follow, as your ideas and innovations have received well-deserved recognition among your colleagues and the entire education community. Since your ideas have received such recognition, they deserve to be promoted and implemented in the broadest sense of the word.

It is gratifying to know that the tight-knit team of participants and finalists in these competitions now includes educators from the Donetsk and Lugansk republics and the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. Supporting the education systems in these regions is of major importance. We have been focusing on this and will continue to do so.

We should help our colleagues catch up and do everything to help schoolchildren and teachers feel part of the vast and shared educational space of our large country.

Best teaching practices and advanced techniques should be put to good use in these regions and the rest of the country, and teachers should be able to continue to learn as well. We often hear the same principles expressed over and over in every field and industry, that we all must continue to learn, upgrade our skills, and improve our mastery. This undoubtedly applies to teachers, perhaps even more so than to anyone else.

Your expertise as recognised leaders in your profession – I am addressing this audience now – and your creative and innovative approaches and potential are highly valuable and sought-after. Of course, I very much hope, and this is a good tradition in educational competitions, that you will become mentors for your colleagues as well. This should not sound offensive to anyone, because you have demonstrated your potential, and you should and can share your knowledge, expertise, and creative ideas with your colleagues. Again, no one should be offended if these achievements and proposals are shared with your colleagues.

We – and you are well aware of this – are striving to pay more attention to the material aspects of education. New schools are being built, and existing schools are being renovated, and textbooks and curricula are being updated. This work, especially when it comes to the content of the educational process, will undoubtedly benefit from your direct participation.

I hope that today you will share your assessments of what has been accomplished lately, your suggestions, and your vision of the future of education in Russia.

I congratulate you once again and wish you all the best. We are ready to support your ideas and suggestions. I see Minister [of Education] Sergei Kravtsov on the screen, and we have Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova who is in charge of these matters with us, and Andrei Fursenko, the former Minister who now works in the Presidential Executive Office is here as well.

Please, go ahead.

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