MOSCOW, February 12 (Itar-Tass) —— Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will make a working trip to the Kurgan region on Monday, February 13. He will visit a secondary school and chair a conference on the modernization of education in regions, the government press office said on Sunday.
The fulfillment of regional education modernization programs in 2011 and plans for 2012 will be the main item on the conference agenda. “Regional heads will make reports to the premier in a videoconference, and further reform plans will be discussed, such as higher quality of education, bigger salaries of teachers and improvement of schools’ material and technical provision,” the press office said.
Putin will visit secondary school No 7 to speak to the school council, which unites teachers, parents and students. The school opened in 1985; it currently has 860 students. Besides, it serves as a cultural center for children of the neighborhood.
Putin initiated the modernization project in education in April 2011. Its key goal is to raise average salaries of teachers in regions to the average wage in the Russian economy. The federal budget assigned 120 billion rubles for the project.
More than 180,000 school principals and teachers upgraded their skills in 2011. More than 832,000 pieces of school laboratory, workshop, sports and computer equipment and more than 2,000 vehicles were procured.
Thanks to the project, salaries of teachers in 62 regions grew to the economic average, and increased by 30% or more in the rest.