MarSU and MIPT: free quality education for talented children of the region

The core disciplines of the educational programme will be taught by the staff of the Mints Radio Engineering Institute.

The last day of April started with a busy day for teachers and school principals in the Republic of Mari El. On April 30 the round table "Educational partnership in teaching physics: from mass school to giftedness" with participation of Mari State University Rector Mikhail Shvetsov and Artyom Voronov, vice-rector on educational work and pre-university training of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Mathematics was held.

The main purpose of the meeting was to discuss assistance to talented students in realizing their potential through cooperation between Mari El's supporting higher education institution and schools of the region. As speakers noted, it is important both from the point of view of increase of intellectual level of youth, and the decision of a question of personnel. In particular, the so-called 'brain drain', when smart kids go to study in universities in the capital.

This problem was also stressed by Artyom Voronov, the pro-rector of MIPT:

ARTYOM ANATOLIEVICH VORONOV

Vice-rector for academic work at MIPT:

«It is important to give local kids an opportunity, without leaving for Moscow, to get a good education. Because, in the end, it is not even the walls of the university or the quality of teaching that are important. It is important that a lot of smart guys come together in one place, because then they light up against each other. And these talents begin to grow faster»

And Mikhail Nikolayevich suggested ways of solving it:

MIKHAIL NIKOLAEVICH SHVETSOV

Rector of Mari State University:

«Mari State University is a basic platform for training teachers of natural and physical and mathematical sciences and improving their qualifications. We would like to award a number of grants and establish a number of backbone schools in the republic. We will help equip them with the necessary laboratory equipment and provide free professional development for teachers. In addition, all backbone schools and their students will be included in the programme "Physics Tech for the Regions". In this way we plan to raise the qualification of schoolchildren on a mass scale»

Rector of Mari State University also emphasised that quality education for talented children should be free of charge and that at the moment the region and the university itself are ready to provide such children with all opportunities for their personal and professional realisation: a record number of state-funded places, new study programmes meeting the market demands, free accommodation in dormitories, modern well-equipped laboratories, internships and employment at leading companies of the country from the second year of study.

Teachers and principals later joined the discussion and were able to point out problem areas in the cooperation and training of both teaching staff and school pupils. It became clear that university and school authorities were interested in the same things, and this was sure to be the key to fruitful and long-term cooperation.

After the round table, the teachers and headmasters in the classroom were replaced by pupils with a passion for physics. Artyom Voronov, pro-rector of MIPT, led the session for those children who like to solve problems and take part in physics competitions. He immediately pointed out that "Olympiads are not a goal in life, but a way to get into physics. Artyom also pointed out that it is important to be able to observe how problems are solved. This is one of the most important skills. After solving several problems, the lecturer offered the children to choose the topic they will be working on today. As a result, Yoshkar-Ola schoolchildren had a unique opportunity to attend a seminar by an MIPT physics teacher. It should be noted that the educational intensives on Olympiad physics were held for two days for 8th-9th and 10th-11th grades.