During his visit on 19th March, Counsellor wanted to know more about multilingual education.
Mr. Shaimiev announced his multilingual school initiative in January 2019. To provide best possible opportunities for kids, competent teachers must be recruited, so he wanted to find out what are the latest developments in this regard at one of the top pedagogical institutions in the country – Kazan Federal University.
At the Institute of Physics, accompanied by the Minister of Education and Science of Tatarstan Rafis Burganov and provincial parliament member Ilshat Aminov, Counsellor toured teacher training rooms, including a full-scale model classroom.
Rector Ilshat Gafurov informed the guests, “We have 9 thousand people enrolled in all types of teacher education. 2 thousand graduate each year. 125 more people were admitted this academic year within a target program for bilingual, Russian and Tatar, education.”
The delegation then went to the Institute of Psychology and Education, where they could also learn about education processes and model classrooms. Using this opportunity, Mintimer Shaimiev talked with many students and quizzed them about their respective subjects. Among the other visited facilities were Center for Master Programs, Center for Teaching Practice in Preschool and Elementary Education, Interactive Education Studio, speaking and theater training rooms, a cinema, and several labs. Mr. Shaimiev was especially interested in SMART, an interactive sensor input table for elementary education.
The visitor said, “I’ve had opportunities to speak with students and educators. There are traditions, there is a backbone, and there are students in good spirits. We’ve visited several laboratories, and we are convinced that we in our Republic can implement the best educational methods. It’s evident that the federal university equips itself with world-level infrastructure.”
The delegation also visited the Institute of Philology and Intercultural Communication and the Institute of International Relations, both tasked with providing multilingual education as well.
So far, Mintimer Shaimiev has shared that there one secondary school in Kazan is going to open doors within the framework of his initiative.
Source text: Kamill Gareev, Galina Khasanova, Natalia Doroshkevich
Translation: Yury Nurmeev