Valery Falkov: "The desire to communicate among young people is much stronger than all kinds of geopolitical challenges"

At the World Youth Festival on March 6, the day dedicated to the meaning of "We stand together with Russia", Valery Falkov, Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, talked to journalists and told his impressions of the Festival, as well as shared key initiatives in the field of education support.

"The Festival is a wonderful event that demonstrates that the desire to socialize among young people is much stronger than all sorts of geopolitical challenges and restrictions that often, unfortunately, exist in this world. And we see the quality of communication: people are set on friendship, acquaintances, gaining knowledge and new projects, and it seems to me - the Festival was a success", said Valery Falkov.

He noted that there are several key programs of state support for education and they are all interrelated.

According to him, the Priority 2030 program is a flagship program whose role is very big as it aims to support the development of universities. This program creates a competitive situation in the higher education system as a whole, stimulates university teams to make the education of higher quality and programs more demanded by applicants. And also to be more actively involved in the socio-economic development of the region.

 "The second important program inextricably linked to the first is Building academic towns, or otherwise known as campuses. The third important project focuses specifically on engineering training and the transformation of engineering education. These are cutting edge engineering schools. It is close to the Priority 2030 program," Valery Falkov added.

He separately highlighted the program of renovation and repair of student dormitories, which is launched on the initiative of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"We have been looking forward to this program for a long time because it is very ambitious in terms of funding. 800 dormitories will be renovated by 2030. It's a more comfortable environment to get an education. Also important is a support program for teachers who work with students in basic or foundational disciplines. It will start in pilot mode from this year. Usually these disciplines are read in the first, second year of study and are very important for the formation of the student's worldview. They are also important as a professional core for gaining further specialized knowledge in any of the fields. And if this core is properly formed, the quality of education is fundamentally different," emphasized Valery Falkov.

__________

The World Youth Festival is taking place at the Sirius Federal Territory from March 1 to 7, 2024, as per the decree issued by Russian President Vladimir Putin aimed at fostering international youth cooperation.

The Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Rosmolodezh) is the organizer of the World Youth Festival, with the Directorate of the World Youth Festival serving as the operator for WYF-2024.