“We have to wait another year for real results”

The National Education Project in 2007 should be implemented faster than it was in 2006. The Ministry of Education and Science decided in this way to give the regions some time to fulfill local financial obligations under the project. Representatives of this department recently approved a schedule for the implementation of key programs: the winners of the competition for innovative universities will be announced on March 9, and the best schools by April 15. Ten thousand of the best teachers in Russia will be determined by May 1, however, they will still receive cash bonuses and government certificates by Teacher’s Day. By mid-September, it is planned to pay all bonuses to talented youth (1,250 bonuses of 60 thousand rubles each and 4,100 bonuses of 30 thousand rubles each). New buses and visual equipment should arrive at schools before the start of the next school year. However, the leaders of the Ministry of Education and Science warn that the use of grants allocated within the framework of the national project should not become an end in itself, and guide local officials towards systemic changes in the field of education. Deputy Director of the Department of State Policy in Education of the Ministry of Education and Science Igor REMORENKO told Vremya Novostei correspondent Kirill VASILENKO what the government expects from the national project “Education” next year.

— Igor Mikhailovich, if we sum up the results of the first year of implementation of the national project, can we say that qualitative changes have already occurred? Or are you not expecting them so quickly?

— Of course, it would be too ambitious to say that qualitative changes have taken place over the past year . But we expect to see major changes by December next year. Now we can talk about changing some characteristics of the system, which will inevitably affect the quality of education. What do I mean? First of all, if we talk about schools , this is an increase in teachers’ salaries, the introduction (for now in some regions, but next year the geography will expand) of a new wage system, improving the material equipment of schools, and attracting attention to the field of education from public organizations. By the way, the regions have invested significantly more funds in the development of the education sector within the framework of the national project than originally expected. Each of these elements has a positive impact on improving the quality of education.

—What about universities?

— It's the same with universities . Firstly, an increase in spending on scientific work, on modern laboratories, on new educational materials contributes to the fact that the quality of education is growing. And secondly, surveys conducted in seventeen universities that won the competition have already shown that more students there began to participate in work on scientific projects. But in general, I believe that we need to wait another year for real results.

— By the way, a problem arose with the competition for the best schools and universities when it turned out that not everyone had time to spend the funds received under the grant. According to the terms of the competition, will they be deprived of the second part of the tranche in 2007?

- Why some people had problems, why they started spending money only in November, when the funds were transferred back in June, we will still specifically analyze. But there is also the problem of general financial illiteracy, the inability to work with attracted extra-budgetary funds. It is worth noting that in those regions where there was experience in implementing large-scale projects, everything went without problems. Despite this, in the first year of implementation of the national project, the time frame for spending funds for schools will be increased by another three months.

- What can be done to ensure that this situation does not happen again in the future?

-- Start the competition earlier. And we will do it. Schools will have more time. By the end of April, all regions will have to sum up their results; funding could begin as early as May.

— As far as we know, the ministry plans to include the best teachers and heads of innovative schools in the pool of experts. In what directions?

-- After supporting the best teachers and innovative schools, the next step is to involve them in solving educational policy problems. Including the development of modern competitive educational standards, and the examination of educational literature. Who, if not the best teachers, decides what textbooks should be like? We have a procedure for the examination of textbooks by the academic community - the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Russian Academy of Education. But we do not have a normal procedure for the examination of textbooks by the community of practicing teachers.

-- The first competition identified the best schools and universities in the country that the ministry will support next year? The best in the regions?

- Not quite like that. Identifying the best of the best is a simplified understanding of the situation. Rather not the best, but the most important and significant for the consumer. For example, the Medical Academy introduces new medical technologies. This is important, it is in demand. It is equally important that the Far Eastern University is testing various approaches to the development of the Asia-Pacific region. This is also very significant. The main thing here is to focus on innovative educational programs, which are the most important at the current stage for business, for employers, and for consumers of educational services. The same thing happens in schools, only here innovations are assessed by parents.

- And yet, in what direction will the national project develop further?

-- The next step is to create mechanisms for the independent development of the education system. Consumer-oriented competitive mechanisms must emerge. Then the system will have the opportunity to develop independently, and not depend entirely on injections from the federal budget. Here, in fact, supporting the development of education systems in the regions is a new direction that will appear in 2007 - this is an attempt to create institutional mechanisms for self-regulation of the education system.

- What mechanisms exactly are we talking about?

-- Regulatory per capita financing (in many regions it has already been practically introduced) and the resulting new system of remuneration for teachers, which allows teachers to be assessed based on the results of their work. We need certification that takes into account not ceremonial achievements, not who can write the best report, but, for example, the victories of students at Olympiads, the dynamics of changes in the level of knowledge of children, and other achievements. All this can be taken into account when paying for labor.

- Is this already practiced?

- In a number of regions - yes. This is widely used in the Tyumen region, elements of this approach have been introduced in St. Petersburg, the Samara region, and Karelia.

-- How ready are all regions of the country for a comprehensive project?

-- In September last year, following a government meeting, all regions of the federation were recommended to develop comprehensive measures to modernize education. More than a year had passed, there was time to prepare. Since the spring of this year, we began holding seminars in the regions to prepare for this project. To date, all federal districts have been covered. And some regions have already sent us their trial comprehensive projects for the development of education.

-- When the upcoming competition of regions was first announced, there were accusations in the press that it would be a competition for loyalty to government programs.

— It is a mistake to believe that all regions must do something according to certain strict federal methods, introduce a wage system, and regulatory financing. The condition of the competition is not to perform any methods one-on-one, entirely. But if federal funds are allocated, then it is reasonable to determine upon reaching what parameters the region receives additional funding. These parameters are set and they are very transparent. We are talking primarily about increasing teachers' salaries, creating more comfortable educational conditions for children, and better equipping educational institutions. But the federal center does not impose exactly how this should be done.