Anti-Crisis Guidelines: Where Can Personnel Be Found for Import Substitution and a Technological Breakthrough?

6 September 2022

Anti-Crisis Guidelines: Where Can Personnel Be Found for Import Substitution and a Technological Breakthrough?

The choice of school leavers across Russia has shifted in favour of secondary vocational education, including thanks to the Professionalism programme

“We have a very interesting trend today – there is explosive growth in interest in the secondary vocational education system across the country. In 2020, 60% of ninth-grade graduates went on to continue their education in vocational schools. Also, a significant proportion [of graduates – Ed.] went to a vocational school after graduating the 11th grade. This is, of course, very good, because these students are the very personnel for the real economy,” Alexander Bugaev, First Deputy Minister of Enlightenment of the Russian Federation.

“Indeed, there is a tendency of shifting the focus to secondary vocational education. And we should pay tribute to the initiatives of the Ministry of Education, which we gladly supported. I am talking about the Professionalism programme [The Professionalism federal project launched on 1 September, 2022. It is an educational experiment of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation which aims to train qualified specialists with practical knowledge and skills to work in the real sector of the economy in a short period of time – Ed.],” Aleksey Uchenov, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation.

“Professionalism is an excellent programme. I believe that it will develop and push universities to be more flexible in their work with employers,” Boris Korobets, Acting Rector, Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU).

Universities and employers must work more closely together when training staff

“The world is changing very rapidly, and in order to change something in the educational programme, as has also been noted, many documents need to be changed. But, in my opinion, the main thing is not the paperwork, not what we declare as changes, but the essence, the improvement of the quality of education that universities have to provide today. [Improving the quality of education – Ed.] is only possible when the university adapts to the needs of the employer, and the employer works closely with the university. It is a two-way street,” Boris Korobets, Acting Rector, Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU).

“This is a two-way street. <...> In some areas, it is necessary to shape programmes together with particular employers, while in others we should develop our own understanding and our own competencies without being tied to them,” Mikhail Gordin, Acting Rector, Bauman Moscow State Technical University.

PROBLEMS

Inadequate career guidance for students, resulting in a lack of awareness in choosing a college and future profession

“Career guidance is very important because the problem that the higher education system has experienced and continues to experience to some extent even now is that school leavers do not consciously enrol to higher education institutions. They enrol just for the sake of it. Did you want to go to college? Why did you go to college? Do you even need this major and this profession?” Alexander Bugaev, First Deputy Minister of Education of the Russian Federation.

“I'll be honest with you, we, as employers, often encounter many people who get a job without much thought [after unconsciously getting a major – Ed.],” Dmitry Breytenbikher, Senior Vice President, Head of Premium Customer Relations, VTB Bank.

Outflow of Russian specialists working for foreign companies

“Over the past six months, about once a week, we have been reading reports that this or that Western company has closed its engineering centre, moved 200, 300, 100, 25 employees to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Germany, and so on. But these are our citizens, highly skilled and educated. Why are we losing them today, why aren't we retaining them?” Denis Kravchenko, Deputy Chairman of the Committee of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on Economic Policy.

“We are working with all the big players who are closing down their production facilities in Russia and leaving. <...> Every effort is being made so that our citizens wouldn’t have to go abroad to work,” Tatyana Mineeva, Commissioner for Entrepreneurs' Rights Protection in Moscow.

SOLUTIONS

Continuous self-education as a way of adapting to a rapidly changing economy

“In my opinion, the most important quality that needs to be fostered, and we are trying to foster it in our employees, is constant self-education. In other words, education should be continuous, lifelong. This is the key to a person's adaptability in our rapidly changing world,” Dmitry Breytenbikher, Senior Vice President, Head of Premium Customer Relations, VTB Bank.

“It seems to me that the most important thing is to accept the way things are and keep self-improving constantly. On the one hand, not everything is within a person's control, and you have to know your limitations and it becomes necessary to “Ask the Audience”. On the other hand, if I believe that tomorrow I can be a little better than today, it will give me the strength to accept the fact that today I might do something wrong, because I will always have a chance to continue it tomorrow,” Aleksandra Lebedeva, Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Kamchatka Territory.

Early career guidance and starting preparation for future occupational training in schools

“There is a widespread perception that schoolchildren are the future. In fact, they are not – they are already the present. And training should start at school, or better yet, even earlier in today's economy,” Alexander Bugaev, First Deputy Minister of Enlightenment of the Russian Federation.

“I agree that it is necessary to train personnel from school. There are 222 engineering classes in Moscow, their number increases by 50 classes every year. We can conclude from this that there is demand for them, that it is an effective model. There are 141 entrepreneurial classes in Moscow, I work actively with all Moscow schoolchildren, and I see a demand for teaching entrepreneurship, for separate IT classes. Moscow schoolchildren are ready to be embedded in the learning environment with universities and employers. It is a very good liaison,” Tatyana Mineeva, Commissioner for Entrepreneurs' Rights Protection in Moscow.

For more information, go to the Roscongress Information and Analytical System roscongress.org.

Anti-Crisis Guidelines: Where Can Personnel Be Found for Import Substitution and a Technological Breakthrough?

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