PYATIGORSK, June 15 (Itar-Tass) — The commission for social and economic development of the Russian North Caucasus in its new format will concentrate on the development of North Caucasian resorts, the state program for the North Caucasus, the youth policy and the education system in the region, Russian president’s envoy to the North Caucasian Federal District Alexander Khloponin said here on Thursday.
“The first session of the new commission will be held shortly,” said Khloponin, who is also Deputy Prime Minister. “It was a fundamental decision within the framework of reformatting the activity of the government commission for the North Caucasus to deviate from general issues, for example employment issues. These are global problems, and it is difficult for the commission to make decisions on them. We have decided to concentrate on concrete issues,” Khloponin said.
The development of North Caucasian resorts is one of these issues. The second direction in the activity of the commission will be connected with the state program for the North Caucasus and the federal targeted program. “Time has come to sum up the results,” the envoy noted. “A total of 180 billion roubles have been spent since 2008 on three targeted programs – the South, Chechnya and Ingushetia,” he stressed.
“What has been done? Conventionally speaking – how many facilities have been built, what infrastructure, how much has been done all in all? We must look into the efficiency of the use of funds and make decisions in order to continue these programs, as we need to continue building kindergartens and schools,” the envoy stressed.
Youth policy is the third direction. Education is the fourth direction that the commission will concentrate on. Time has come to reform the system of education in the North Caucasus, which has more universities than other regions, but the quality of education often leaves much to be desired. “It is time to change that paradigm so that the graduate of a North Caucasian university could be considered a top class specialist,” Khloponin stressed.
He regretted failures in the secondary vocational education, which is why the region employs specialists from Ukraine, Belarus, from Europe for highly-paid jobs.
He also focused on the development of the Caucasian Mineral Waters region. “This is the main direction, to develop that unique area of the Russian Federation,” Khloponin stressed.
“Working groups will be set up in the commission” to deal with these directions, he said. “There is an offer within that format to change the activity of the commission in the North Caucasus,” he added.
Khloponin also said that relations with the new government of the Russian Federation develop constructively. Young talented people have come, and the “old guard” of experienced specialists has also remained, he stressed.