EDUCATION AS A KNOW HOW

There are many encouragement programs in many cities of the Republic including grants to the pupils who reached marked success in a subject. This is the way we recognize a persons work. It does not matter very much that the person is a schoolchild

EDUCATION AS A KNOW HOW

Your remember that fine Ryazanov's movie «The Irony of Fate,» don't you? Yevgeny Lukashin, the main character, says that schoolteachers are like surgeons. Both may either save a person or maim one. However, the results of teachers work cannot be noticed right away. I asked Mr. Faris KHARISOV, Minister of Education of the Republic of Tatarstan as to how fair the comparison might be.

I'll tell you that if the primary school teacher can like children and make children like him or her, it will be very well, the Minister says. Well, a bad teacher can break the childs destiny very easily. However, a wise teacher can often change the childs destiny for the better.

— During the recent period, one can often hear that teachers do not get their salaries on time, etc. What is the real situation in the Republic?

— Well, at least we pay the salaries on time. It is good that the President and the Government pay necessary attention to teachers. Incidentally, other regions of the country cannot always boast of that.

— According to State Councilor Timur Akulov, Tatarstan is the Republic that is perceived abroad to be Islamic. How much is religion separated from education in the Republic? What do you think of Islamic University getting the right to issue secular diplomas of higher education?

— Of course, our education is separate from religion. I think its a good idea for Islamic University to manage the right of issuing secular diplomas of higher education as well. That is only going to benefit society if a person with religious education and teaching in a religious institution can have a secular diploma as well. It will broaden his horizon, he will understand more problems, and will not be locked upon religious culture only. At the same time, there is an unclear tendency in education. It is more often heard that a teenager education will be incomplete if he does not receive some religious education on top of traditional secular one. Of course, there is nothing bad in the idea, but it is not quite clear today what it can result in. It is not a fact that religious activists can carry out full-fledged upbringing work. Our approach to that is different. We set up a special laboratory where clerical people give lectures on history of religion to both schoolchildren and our teachers and explain to them traditional confessions and various sects. Also, we publish various methodological materials and textbooks on the problems. So we are granting districts and schools the right to have an elective subject of history of religion within the variable part of the curriculum. The subject can be taught only by teachers who are trained in that. In Tatarstan, we cannot act otherwise because we have to keep peace in that area of social relations. On the whole, we largely support the use of religious values in education, because most of these values are universal.

— One of the most topical education issues in Tatarstan is that of switching over to the Latinic alphabet. Please, comment on the situation.

— Naturally, that is not an easy issue, and it demands serious preparation. Within the last school year, we performed an experiment: in one class in each district (in the second and third form), there were lessons with the use of the Latinic, one hour a week. The experiment revealed that children assimilate the material well. We carried out check-ups based on Latinic and Cyrillic that showed that so far children were doing more mistakes in Latinic text. However, they were involved in the program for just one hour a week. No doubt, the idea is promising. Someone has to make the first step in that direction.

A step towards a perfect alphabet and more perfect spelling rules, and our society is gradually getting ready for that. Of course, such reforms cannot be carried out at once. Another thing is to do that in accordance with the results of such an experiment. In any case, our schoolchildren are very much interested in studying the Tatar language on the basis of the Latinic alphabet. Many of them say that it is far more interesting to study the Tatar language using Latinic.

The transfer to Latinic, will it help Tatarstan to integrate more rapidly into the world culture and politics?

Practice will show that. However, it is a fact that it will promote studying foreign languages.

— Tell us about contacts with other regions held by the Republican authorities in education.

Within the recent period, the number of such contacts began to grow, and other regions also started to arrive at an idea that, as a rule, contacts along the education line are very useful. For instance, during the past years we started some purposeful work primarily with the regions where Tatars reside in compact areas. We have signed agreements with such regions. For example, recently our delegation went to Bashkortostan and Chuvashia, to the Uliyanovsk, Saratov and Samara Regions. We gave open lessons there for teachers of the Tatar language and health lessons. Of course, there had been some trips like that before, but we never had any practice of open lessons on our behalf. I think, that is a practice that is very useful for all teachers. It is not for nothing that it is very well received in all the above-mentioned regions. Teachers from other regions come to us as well. On the whole, this practice makes the regions closer to each other and promotes setting up a special model of the education system in Russia.

— Are there any innovative approaches elaborated in the Republic for your work with children, your know-how?

— We've got language camps for Tatar children living beyond Tatarstan. Its the fourth year that we support such camps and receive requests from childrens parents for using them form different regions of the country. Children arrive even from Murmansk. While earlier children of only Tatar ethnic origin arrived, now we invite any children. Let them contact with the Tatar language and Tatar culture. Parents have to pay only for travel, because we keep children at the camp at our own expense. Since 1998, we support the Health Program at schools. Large work is being done in this direction. Ministry of Education has to think of both the intellectual health of the growing generation and its physical health. We managed to inspire teachers in that area. Incidentally, its good that the importance of the problem has been recognized at the federal level as well. Besides, recently we held the first Republican Rally of Sunday Schools. Over one thousand children take lessons at Sunday schools in Tatarstan.

— I hear that you actively involve instructors from higher educational institutions into working with children.

That's true. Many scientists have been attached to certain schools, and agreements have been signed. In particular, especially within the past three years, they have been involved on a regular basis into training our children for republican, All-Russian and international subject Olympiads. There are good results: while in 1998 there were eight winners of All-Russian Olympiads from Tatarstan, there are thirty this year. Eight talented children from the Republic, winners of International and All-Russian Olympiads, competitions and festivals received scholarships from RF President V.Putin; in that number Yelena Vakhromova (high school #3 in Zelenodolsk) was awarded a Russian President scholarship for a second time. Apart from that, there are many encouragement programs in many cities of the Republic including grants to the pupils who reached marked success in a subject. This is the way we recognize a person's work. It does not matter very much that the person is a schoolchild.

— It means that you demonstrate in what way one can correct the mistakes often made by other secondary and higher educational institutions in Russia, when they award first prizes to some pupils and then forget all about them. You follow them to the university, don't you?

Exactly. We expect certain achievements in that direction. By the way, this is evidenced by the ever growing number of gold medals for secondary school leavers in our Republic. In spite of the fact that the requirements for this particular award become harder and harder every year.

— What do you think of the idea of introducing a system of unified state examination while entering a higher educational institution?

— So far, rectors of the institutions think over the issue. No one knows what they can arrive at. On our behalf, we made up our minds to hold such a unified examination only in the Tatar language, and the results can be taken into account in enrolling into the departments where they have to pass the subject as an entering examination. On the whole, the decision depends on the federal Ministry of Education.

— It must be hard to preserve parity in relations with many rectors in Kazan, a city that is well-known for its universities?

— Of course, it is not that simple. However, one can say that our creative and constructive work is in progress.

Mikhail DOVZHENKO