Farid Mukhametshin: ‘These are questions are important not only today but also for the future of our republic’
“Attention to these problems will have to seriously increase,” Chairman of the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan Farid Mukhametshin addressed the deputies after some controversy over the Unified State Exam, education in the mother language, the shortage of teachers and their low salaries. At the final meeting of the 6th Parliament, he called for proposals to be prepared for the government of the republic and discussions with State Duma deputies. Read more about this in a report of Realnoe Vremya.
“First of all, you are the people’s representatives, people rely on you!”
Deputies came to the final meeting of the 6th State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan in a good mood. In his speech, Rais of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov highly appreciated the work of the Tatarstan parliament expressing hope that the next convocation would be as effective as the previous one.
“First of all, you are the people’s representatives, people turn to you with a variety of questions and rely on you. I know that you maintain constant feedback with the population, provide assistance, meet with militaries and conduct volunteer activities in various fields, thank you very much! This gives us the opportunity to understand the primary tasks that we are trying to do even better, including in the national projects and republican programmes that are aimed at improving the quality of life of citizens,” Rustam Minnikhanov emphasised.
“Unified State Exam results are higher than the Russian average results”
A lively discussion unfolded after a report of Minister of Education of the Republic of Tatarstan Ilsur Khadiullin who reported on the implementation of specialised programmes in the republic over the past year. In particular, the infrastructure of 112 educational organisations was updated. The positions of advisers to directors of schools on education have appeared. 23 teachers who moved to rural schools were paid a million rubles in Rural Teacher programme.
“Our priority in general education remains to ensure high quality education. In 2023, graduates received their diplomas as usual. The Unified State Exam results in mathematics, Russian language and non-mandatory subjects in the republic are higher than the Russian average results,” the minister said.
The minister separately focused on a strategic talent management programme. Large-scale events are held in science, art and sports. The Olympic movement plays a big role. In terms of the effectiveness of participation in Russian Olympiads for schoolchildren, Tatarstan is 2nd, and in terms of the number of winners and medallists it is 3rd after Moscow and Moscow region. “Our schoolchildren show high competitiveness at international level too,” noted Ilsur Khadiullin.
At the end of the year, Tatarstan finished 2nd in a national ranking of scientific and technological development of regions. There are five advanced engineering schools in the republic in partnership with high-tech companies. This is one of the best indicators in the country. Five universities take part in Priority 2030 strategic academic leadership programme.
After the minister’s speech, several deputies approached him with questions. In particular, Rail Shamsutdinov outlined the problem with teaching in the Tatar language in the republic; there are few teachers of this kind left, even at Kazan Federal University. He was interested in how the ministry was working on this issue. According to the minister, 7,045 students are currently studying to become teachers, of which about 60% are in multilingual areas.
“The turnover of the shadow tutor market in the Republic of Tatarstan is a billion rubles”
The minister was also asked questions about the construction of new schools and kindergartens, and he said that this year 10 pre-school institutions and 11 schools are being built in the republic. The deputies were also concerned about the shortage of teachers, and as Ilsur Khadiullin admitted, this is a truly painful topic. 150 applicants are annually accepted for teaching specialties, students receive a scholarship of 15,000 rubles as part of the teacher support programme. This year, there are 3,908 budget-funded places in teacher training universities in the republic, and so far, applications have been submitted for only half of them.
“There are no particularly interested people. We are working with schools, opening specialised classes and providing schools with teachers, of course, is a very serious problem. Today, like last year, we are short of 2,500 teachers. Most of all — teachers of mathematics, Russian, even foreign languages, physics and chemistry,” the minister said.
Later, Mirgalimov and his colleague Fadbir Safin raised the issue of the need to license the activities of tutors: “A huge shadow market for tutoring has formed; according to our calculations, the turnover in Tatarstan alone is about a billion rubles. Before lunch, there is a teacher, after lunch there are tutors. We need to license them.” Safin also said that it is time for the republic to “revive its pedagogical university,” because as part of KFU it is like “on a big cruiser.”
Rail Shamsutdinov drew attention to the problem of people left to their own devices during school holidays. According to him, many complaints come from areas where schoolchildren often spend time riding ATVs. The local population is dissatisfied with the loud noise and reckless driving, and children are also injured. The deputy proposed organising a dialogue with parents in schools so that they do not buy dangerous equipment for children as an option to solve the problem.
In conclusion, Farid Mukhametshin admitted that many comments were made on the case. There are indeed many questions regarding the organisation of the Unified State Exam, and there is concern about the state of learning national languages and teaching in their native language.
“I completely agree that these are issues are important not only today but also for the future of our republic with its multinational people. Attention to these problems will have to seriously increase. Let’s send our proposals that were made to the Cabinet of Ministers in order to once again return to the government level and look at the real possibilities of the republic,” he urged the audience.
After thanking the minister for his report, the speaker of parliament slightly scolded him for not raising another, no less pressing problem, which is teachers' salaries. “We need to talk about this, don’t be afraid. This is a matter of extreme national importance,” he issued an order.