Almost 400 million invested in Tatarstan's Sirius in a year
The regional centre for gifted children after successful approbation of programmes is going online for the period of the pandemic
Exactly a year ago, it was decided to create the regional centre for gifted children in Tatarstan, based on the Sirius model. On May 28, 2019, President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov and head of the Talent and Success educational foundation Elena Shmeleva signed a cooperation agreement, within which the project of a new educational centку is being implemented. Realnoe Vremya found out how much Sirius in Tatarstan cost, where it will work, how many children it will accept and when it will open.
The “incubator” for young talents will work in Derbyshki and Zhilka districts
“A month later after the agreement was signed on cooperation in the development and implementation of intellectual and creative potential of children and youth — July 2, 2019, the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Tatarstan issued a decree on the establishment of the centre and defined for it the reference platform — the health-educational centre Duslyk in Derbyshki," Aydar Akmalov, CEO of Kazan Open Talents University ANO, based on which the project is implemented, told Realnoe Vremya. “And the main training establishment will be the building of the polytechnic college on Malaya Armavirskaya Street in the Aviastroitelny district of Kazan (near Zhilploschadka residential area — editor's note). It will be transferred to the management of the Duslyk complex, and the laboratory building will be equipped there, where specialised shifts will be held in the future with invited academics and experts.
According to Akmalov, the Tatarstan centre for gifted children will operate 18 research laboratories, classrooms and grounds. It is laboratories of technogenic ecotoxicants for environmental studies, hydroponic systems for biological, automation and robotisation of the technological processes in agriculture, laboratory of VR/AR/MR (virtual, augmented and mixed reality) of laser and additive technologies, cyber-physical systems, remote sensing of the Earth and extraterrestrial territories, the directed synthesis of polyfunctional compounds, new materials and technologies, evaluation of human functional state, the offices of arts and design, vocal and theatrical arts, musical and performing arts and choreography, as well as grounds for football, athletics, skiing and chess.
The republic will pay for a quarter
The project is funded from the federal project 'Success of Every Child' of the national project Education, the total amount of the grant allocated for this purpose is 336 million rubles.
“In this amount, there is a share of the republic," said Aydar Akmalov. “This is about 61 million rubles, and 276 million — the funds allocated from the federal budget. Besides, Tatarstan has allocated further funding of 49,9 million rubles for the realisation of specialised programmes. These funds are used to pay for meals and accommodation for children in Kazan during their studies.
From chemistry to vocals, from music to math
On December 24, at the meeting of the supervisory board of the University of Talents, the model of the new educational centre was presented and the main directions of its activities were approved: Science, Art, Sport, as well as the criteria for selecting students to organize and participate in specialized shifts in the areas of educational activities of the republican centre.
In conjunction with the relevant republican ministries of education, the ministry of sport, ministry of youth affairs, ministry of culture, Academy of Sciences of Tatarstan, Kazan Scientific Centre of the RAS, the Council of Rectors of Tatarstan, the Public Chamber of Tatarstan, it was established a roadmap of the pilot phase of the relevant programmes until August 2020. Partners of the core programmes are the Kazan Federal University, Kazan National Research Technical University named after A.N. Tupolev, Kazan National Research Technological University, Kazan State Power Engineering University and others.
The developers of programmes and teachers of the regional centre for gifted children are well-known people in the republic. For example, Farit Valiullin, a member of the board of the Union of Artists of Tatarstan, teaches art. Among the programme developers and teachers — Doctor of Chemical Sciences, Associate Professor of the KFU Igor Sedov. Bulat Kuramshin, a famous fourth-year student of the KFU, three-time winner of the final stage of the Russian Chemistry Olympiad, two-time gold medalist of the International Mendeleev Olympiad, and gold medalist of the international Chemistry Olympiad, also acts as a teacher.
Approbation
We approbated the project already last year: during the summer holidays in July 2019, specialized shifts in biology, fine arts and athletics were organized in a pilot mode at Duslyk centre, and during the autumn holidays — a mathematical shift.
“In total, 377 schoolchildren from 16 cities and districts took part in the profile shifts last year — from Kazan, Naberezhnye Chelny, Zelenodolsk, Mendeleevsk, Buinsk, Chistopol, Arsk and others," said Aydar Akmalov. “Including during the autumn holidays, 98 schoolchildren took part in the math shift. A hundred were planned, but two couldn't make it. In the summer, the duration of the programmes was two weeks, in the autumn — a week. The venue for them was the Lenin recreation centre in the Aviastroitelny district, and the children were living in Tupolev hotel.
Forced online
Now, according to the interlocutor of Realnoe Vremya, the purchase of equipment for laboratories of the regional centre has begun. The competitions for the development of educational programmes have also been announced. In accordance with the requirements of Sirius, equipment must be purchased under specific programmes and fully comply with them.
The coronavirus pandemic has made its own adjustments but has not stopped the project launching process: from June 1, the Sirius regional centre for gifted children is going to open the first shifts remotely.
“Educational programmes in mathematics for sixth graders, chess, fine arts and vocals, as well as social creativity will start online," Akmalov said. “In total, we have recruited 130 students, including 45 for the math programme.”
Winning the contest as a ticket
When asked how a talented student can “enroll” in the new regional educational centre, the executive director of the university of talents said that, first of all, they need to apply — this is done online. But then they will have to pass the selection, the criteria of which are, first, participation (and, of course, high achievements) in the same competitions, victories and prizes in which they provide benefits for admission to universities, and second, compliance with the requirements set by the developers of programmes of the regional centre. And, of course, they need the consent of parents — after all, gifted children will be brought to Kazan for the duration of training from all regions of the republic.
“We will deliver school children for free, and parents will not have to pay for accommodation and training of gifted children," said Aydar Akmalov. “The duration of training in the future will be 21 days.” The opening of the republican centre, as in other regions, is scheduled for September 1, 2020.