KEY CONCLUSIONS
Modern universities cannot go on without teaching children the competencies of technological entrepreneurs
"A modern university is inconceivable without the function associated with the transfer of knowledge to technology. They are very closely connected, not the same thing, but very closely connected to the entrepreneurial culture, to training. Given that universities today are actively connecting with public schools, it would be wrong not to interact with schoolkids and miss on an opportunity to create self-fulfillment for kids who would like to achieve something great while in school. We should not miss a chance to create opportunities for them to express themselves and try entrepreneurship," Valery Falkov, Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation.
"To get the appropriate technological product, to make something, and further promote it – this takes teamwork. There is very little you can do on your own now, it is a team effort. This should be taught at the university and the infrastructure should be provided. A lot depends on you: motivation is the key word," Vladimir Vasilyev, Rector of ITMO University.
"There are different types of activities in a young person's developmental trajectory: one is to learn math, but another is to try to tackle the technology frontier and learn how to actually change the world, to be an adult member of a technology group, an extra-curriculum club," Dmitry Zemtsov, Vice Rector for Development, Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU); Head of the National Technology Initiative Working Group for the Development of Supplementary and Non-Formal Education, Kruzhok Movement.
PROBLEMS
The education system lacks student motivation
"This dialogue is the hardest thing to build because historically in the 1980s and 1990s the definition of an extra-curriculum club started to have a different meaning. A club is where you go to learn something extra. But a club is not really an element of extracurricular education. It is a form of self-organization for motivated kids who want to achieve something important. And the fact that we began to call the system of additional education clubs what we do now has complicated our dialogue with the industry, which is on the frontier," Dmitry Zemtsov, Vice Rector for Development, Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU); Head of the National Technology Initiative Working Group for the Development of Supplementary and Non-Formal Education, Kruzhok Movement.
"It seems to me that it is important to lay down basic skills and competencies that will be useful regardless of where this schoolkid or student will go afterwards. Maybe he or she will not even go to a university or will choose a completely different major, that has nothing to do with engineering. But the ability to think outside the box, the ability to find interesting solutions, creativity, willingness to try something new – these are the qualities that are most important," Vice Rector, Director, Higher School of Public Administration, Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation; Director General, Russia – the Land of Opportunities.
"In the Far East, there is one person per square kilometer, so the price of what is done in the universities of the Far East is enormously high, because every graduate of any Far Eastern university is a person who will work there, who will develop the territory. The president has set the task of advanced economic development of the Far East. We, of course, believe that it is necessary to apply all possible mechanisms for motivating young people," Nikita Anisimov, Rector, Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU).
"The participants focused on the term "social elevator" – whatever you want to call it, we need to do everything we can to create a technological breakthrough team. Public schools will also change, but because of our inertia, today we are forced to complete the school environment with the movies likes The Big Break, National Technological Olympiads, and anything else we can think of," Natalya Kravchenko, Chairwoman, Commission for the Development of Preschool, School, and Secondary Vocational Education and Educational Activities, Public Chamber of the Russian Federation.
SOLUTIONS
It is necessary to popularize topic-specific competitions and technological tasks
"We as organizers also take on the function of an ambassador. If you believe that by gathering in a club you can solve a technological problem that will change the world, then you infect others with this idea. And then we will, on both sides, make the National Olympiads truly national-wide and universal," Dmitry Zemtsov, Vice Rector for Development, Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU); Head of the National Technology Initiative Working Group for the Development of Supplementary and Non-Formal Education, Kruzhok Movement.
"Today we should not work with schoolchildren strictly along the lines of school disciplines, but in the logic of involving them in the industry. We should help create an environment, formats, and tools where kids of school age will try to move forward in a meaningful way," Natalya Kravchenko, Chairwoman, Commission for the Development of Preschool, School, and Secondary Vocational Education and Educational Activities, Public Chamber of the Russian Federation.
"When we discuss the Olympiad as an opportunity to see your technological future and employment from high school, it says that we have come a long way in 14 years. If we had created such a technology Olympiad in 2007, maybe we would have been ahead of our time, but we would be talking to those kids who are 30 now in the same language that we are talking to you now. And we have come this long way to make the National Technology Olympiad not just happen, but to be an opportunity <...> to fullfill your calling," he said. Nikita Anisimov, Rector, Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU).
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