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The career guidance project "Profstart" has been officially launched in St. Petersburg
There will be held a competition among schools of St. Petersburg to obtain funding for creation of specialized classes in close collaboration with the leading universities and large employers. On March 26 this was announced by Natalia Putilovskaya, the Chair of the Education Committee at the launch ceremony of the ProfStart project.
Starting this year, schools of St. Petersburg will be able to receive grants on a competitive basis in a form of subsidies for equipping subject rooms and laboratories that include modern means of education and training. For the implementation of the project 1.25 billion rubles from the budget of St. Petersburg are provided for three years.
"The criteria to determine the competition winners are defined – this is the work of the school on the implementation of specialized programmes, and the achievements of students, and the readiness of the teaching staff. A prerequisite for the school's participation in the competition is the availability of an innovative programme supporting the creation of a specialized class," Natalia Putilovskaya said. She explained that the Government of St. Petersburg is currently preparing a resolution on approving the procedure of granting in the form of subsidies. Information about the announcement of the competition and the procedure for its conduct will be posted on the official website of the Education Committee. The Education Committee will also issue an order on the creation of a competition commission consisting of independent experts.
The competitive selection is planned to be held before summer holidays, so that the winning schools have time to purchase modern teaching tools – equipment for classrooms or laboratories. The emphasis in creation of the specialized classes will be on the humanities and technology, engineering and technology, and chemical and biological areas. It is also planned to organize classes specializing in IT, digital systems and convergent sciences.
We recall that on March 26, the "ProfStart" project was officially launched in St. Petersburg. The event was held with the support of the Education Committee and with the participation of social partners of the Government of St. Petersburg.
"A large-scaled educational programme has been launched today. It will give children the opportunity to get the skills of their future profession already at school. More and more numerous high-tech enterprises and research centres in St. Petersburg will receive well-trained specialists", Alexander Beglov said at the opening ceremony.
The main objective of the project is to help schoolchildren in St. Petersburg make a conscious choice of profession and build an individual learning route. For this purpose, the work of four clusters was organized on the base of the multimedia historical park "Russia – My History". They are "Open City", "Comfortable City", "Smart City" and "Social City".
The programme of each cluster was formed with the participation of the leading universities, industrial enterprises, corporations and scientific organizations - partners of the Government of St. Petersburg. The professional navigation route includes a meeting with an industry expert, a motivational lecture, as well as a "first touch" - a practical case solution, which allows schoolchildren to shape interest in the profession and knowledge. During the professional test, each participant can get acquainted with several professions from different sectors of the economy at once.
Representatives of partner organizations, teachers of supplementary and vocational education, and St. Petersburg teachers help students to get used to the world of professions. It is expected that 4,000 young residents of St. Petersburg will take part in the pilot project.
At the ProfStart project launch ceremony, the first agreements were signed between the Government of St. Petersburg and leading St. Petersburg universities on the creation of specialized classes and the organization of a system of career guidance events for schoolchildren on an ongoing basis. The agreements also provide for the joint implementation of educational programmes of supplementary professional education among the management and pedagogical school teams where it is planned to create specialized classes. The agreements were signed by Alexander Beglov, the Governor of St. Petersburg and the heads of the Russian State Pedagogical University after A. I. Herzen, Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, Saint Petersburg State Chemical Pharmaceutical University (SPCPA), St. Petersburg State Marine Technical University, St. Petersburg National Research University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics (ITMO University) and the “Prosveshcheniye” Publishing House.