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Ahead of the meeting, the President toured a thematic exhibition dedicated to the key events of the Year of Teachers and Mentors. In particular, he was told about the “Be, Don’t Seem” nationwide competition for mentors and about the work on training personnel as part of the Professionalism federal project.

Vladimir Putin was accompanied by Presidential Aide, Secretary of the State Council Igor Levitin; Minister of Education Sergei Kravtsov; and Governor of Sevastopol, Chairman of the State Council Commission on Education Mikhail Razvozhayev.

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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Colleagues, friends,

First of all, congratulations to all of you on the upcoming New Year holidays. I wish good health to you and your families. Let me remind you of today’s agenda, which goes like this: “On increasing the role and prestige of teachers and mentors.”

Therefore, I would like to convey my warmest words of gratitude and appreciation to teachers and everyone who devotes their lives to forming new generations of Russian citizens. It was in your honour that the current year, 2023, which is nearing completion, was declared the Year of Teachers and Mentors in Russia.

Today, here in this hall, there also are teachers, educators, and employees of domestic enterprises who are in need of personnel. Together we will discuss what else needs to be done to develop a broad, truly nationwide movement of mentors.

Today this work involves citizens of all ages and professions: accomplished specialists, students and even schoolchildren, participants in the Russian Movement of Children and Youth, our military personnel, and military veterans, as well as volunteers and entrepreneurs.

All these people are united by one aspiration: that the work in which they believe and to which they devote their lives, be continued, so that knowledge and experience increase, traditions and values are preserved, and that everyone who is engaged in this noble cause, and therefore our entire country, makes progress and moves forward.

This high and noble essence of mentoring is reflected in the work of our regions, enterprises, universities, and healthcare institutions, which act as sponsors and help their colleagues from Donbass and Novorossiya.

My deepest gratitude to the teachers and mentors of our soldiers who are fighting on the front lines. They have raised real men and heroes, and taught them to help their comrades, to be brave, honest, and decent people.

“Education, seemingly a small matter, is at the same time one of the greatest affairs in history.” These are the words of the great Russian teacher Konstantin Ushinsky. He wrote a lot about the role of mentors in shaping the worldview of the younger generation. Today, we are returning to these roots, taking all the best that both the pre-revolutionary and Soviet education systems were proud of, and restoring the educational value-based component in schools, universities, vocational schools and colleges. This is as important for our sovereignty as improving the quality of teaching and introducing advanced technologies in the learning process.

And of course, a crucial issue here is improving the working conditions for teachers. In this regard, I would like to note that this year a number of legislative acts have been adopted aimed at protecting the rights of teachers. The geography and scope of teaching forums and professional skills contests have also expanded, which opened up more opportunities for the exchange of ideas and best practices among teachers throughout the country.

I would ask Minister of Education Sergei Kravtsov to elaborate on the activities carried out and the results of the Year of Teachers and Mentors.

I believe it is of great importance for us to carefully monitor how all the measures that we have planned and adopted are being implemented on the ground. Also, we should search for effective solutions to existing problems together with teachers and parents. It is again about relieving teachers of non-core activities, clearly define duties of form teachers, and attract and retain young, energetic, creative people and graduates of specialised universities in the education system.

All factors are certainly important here, such as mentoring, assistance from senior colleagues, and, of course, targeted support measures. I can give the Novgorod Region as an example: students of teaching specialties who sign contracts for employer-sponsored education receive a scholarship of 20,000 to 30,000 rubles. Such regional practices are not isolated practices and need to be spread throughout the country.

Another pressing issue is improving the wage system. Let me remind you that in 2012, a decision was made to raise the average salary of teachers to match the average monthly salary in a particular region. This measure played a significant role in raising the status of teachers.

At the same time, it is necessary to improve and make the mechanisms for remuneration of teachers more just. And first of all, we need to increase teachers’ incomes in those regions where they are currently significantly lower than the national average.

Teachers’ work must be paid for according to uniform, clear and transparent rules; otherwise gaps in the quality of teaching between regions and the shortage of teaching staff will grow. It is clear that when the pay is lower, people move away from there, and the quality of teaching ultimately suffers. All this violates the key principle of equal educational opportunities for our children. We must never forget this.

The situation is obvious: incomes in the region lower than in the country on average means that teacher salaries lag behind. As a result, the quality of education is deteriorating, as I have already said, and the region is deprived of human and professional resources. And this ultimately leads to a lag in development.

I would like to ask the Government to offer systemic solutions to the problem of teachers’ salaries. There are different approaches here, I will not go into details now; Ms Golikova [the Deputy Prime Minister] can elaborate. But these different approaches are generally known to those addressing these issues; we need to move in this direction.

Let me also note that education, of course, should not be limited to the confines of the school. We need to create a holistic system of mentoring for children and youth. It is imperative to use the potential of Sirius, the Russia – Land of Opportunity platform, and the Children and Youth Movement. As I already said, we should actively involve combat veterans in this work. We have just talked with them; they are here too. These issues will continue to be discussed. You saw on Direct Line that people are talking about this practically all the way to front, because they understand what this means for the country that they are now defending. We are talking about both their participation in extracurricular activities and the teaching of the subject “Foundations of Security and Defence of the Motherland.”

I would like to ask you to pay special attention to supporting children from orphanages. It is necessary to set up mechanisms for their professional training and subsequent employment, see what kind of assistance is needed for non-profit organisations, volunteers, and people who voluntarily take on the mission of mentors and help children and teenagers who find themselves in difficult life situations. Today we will discuss the experience of the regions and specific proposals in this regard.

Colleagues,

In addition to educating the younger generation and strengthening our sovereign values, mentors play a vital role in the development of Russia’s industrial and human technological potential.

Historically, our country has extensive experience using mentors at production facilities. Back in the late 19^th century, the “Russian system” for personnel training was introduced at leading technical universities internationally.

In the 1930s, the leaders of the Stakhanov movement which started out in Donbass, by the way, became mentors for young workers. By the late 1970s, 900,000 people, almost a million, were part of the mentorship movement in the Soviet Union.

Today, mentorship traditions are being revived and expanded at a whole new level at privately owned businesses and state-run companies such as Russian Railways and Rosatom, to name a few, and at educational and public health institutions as well.

I am also aware that best mentorship practices are to be widely employed by the Federal Technology Park for Vocational Training which opened in Kaluga this year. This is just one example. Teachers and production training instructors will go there to improve their qualifications. Internships for students of teacher training schools will be available as well.

Notably, on-site mentorship has played a key role in the fast-track personnel training in the Kaluga Region which, in turn, led to a spike in industrial development of the region. It made it possible to build dozens of enterprises from scratch and to obtain additional resources for improving the social sphere. This experience should be spread to the rest of the country.

Importantly, mentorship for the national economy means a whole new quality of growth, cost cutting, and greater productivity, which, as everyone knows, is key to the country's progress. Mentorship is also about training highly skilled personnel that our enterprises critically need. Our colleagues from the regions are aware of the fact that our corporate entities all over the country are talking about it.

Time with an experienced mentor provides an opportunity to improve competencies and to address more complex tasks, and eventually qualify for higher pay. In this sense, mentorship is essential for building a high wage economy and improving the standard of living of Russian families.

To reiterate, we are in the process of reviving many traditions. It is important to preserve the living spirit of mentorship. In no case should this movement become tied up in bureaucracy or turned into a coercive practice. On the contrary, it is important to create an environment maximising the number of people who sincerely wish to undertake the honourable mission of passing on their experience, to mentor, and to lead others in the best sense of the word.

The title “mentor” should be a source of pride which is why we established the For Mentorship badge of merit five years ago. I propose establishing an annual Mentor of the Year award. All our regions should take concrete steps to raise the prestige and standing of mentors. This goes for all our colleagues in this audience and the heads of the regions as well.

In addition to moral incentives there should also be material incentives for encouraging the work that is so important to the country. So, we need to provide legally for the possibility of additional payments for mentorship.

Furthermore, under the Professionalism programme, college students can participate in real projects at the platforms of the biggest companies. Similar opportunities should be created for practical student training at small and medium companies, including those in IT, creative industries and tourism. The winners of the World Skills championship raised this issue at a recent meeting. I fully agree with their proposal. It is necessary to support this.

I also consider it necessary to resume the education of the industrial training professionals and teachers in special disciplines, in part, in engineering and technical universities, with the involvement of real practitioners from manufacturing. Moreover, businesses do not refuse to do this; they are interested in this. We simply need to establish proper communication with them.

In addition, academic courses and modules on mentorship and the study of best practices should be included in upgrade courses not only for real economy workers but also for teachers and doctors, and of course, managers at companies, regions and municipalities.

It is essential to facilitate an exchange of experience between organisations, companies and whole regions. To collect and spread best practices, I suggest creating a platform for developing a culture of mentors at the Mashuk educational centre. Lecturers from the Znanie (Knowledge) Society and winners of the Russia – the Land of Opportunity projects should be involved in this.

Friends,

The guidance of our great teachers and mentors has been permeated with the faith in their disciples, in their people always, in all times.

“Each individual has a tremendous reserve of creative force. Awakening this force is our main goal.” I am quoting a man I respect because he created our national sport, Sambo wrestling. I am referring to Anatoly Kharlampiyev. He was a good coach and a good mentor.

The people of Russia have tremendous potential. We must create the conditions to enable people of all ages to reach new heights in science, technology and production. In the end, the destiny of our Motherland depends on the joint achievements of mentors and their protégés.

I know that the regional governors discussed potential measures for supporting the mentorship movement on the eve of the State Council meeting. We will definitely discuss these proposals today as well.

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Vladimir Putin: Colleagues, I suggest we finish up our work.

I will return once again to what Yevgeny Knyazev [Rector of the Boris Shchukin Theater Institute] said. He mentioned the Queen of Spades. We learn a lot from Pushkin’s works, including this one. We learn to play to win. But in order to win we need to pay even more attention to school and to mentoring. The groundwork for all our victories is laid at school. This is absolutely obvious. This is the foundation, on which our whole society, country and state are built.

The Year of Teachers and Mentors is only the beginning of our combined efforts in this important area. This year we have collected additional information, we have looked at the practice, we have summarised this practice, and today we have summed up what has been done in the most general terms. I repeat: this is just the beginning of a new stage of our joint work. I say joint because, by and large, we will not be able to move in the direction we need, at the right pace and quality without the most active participation of the heads of the regions of the Russian Federation.

I want to thank you for everything that has been done over the past 2023. I would like to express the hope that we will also work actively in the coming 2024. All the proposals made today, of course, should be taken into account in the draft of our decision.

Thank you for your work and I want to wish you success in the coming year and a happy New Year. Thank you very much.