Alexei Likhachev at the National Centre RUSSIA: upbringing begins with love

Family and school shape a child's values and moral compass together — especially when adults support one another and lead by example. Alexei Likhachev, Director General of the Rosatom State Corporation, spoke about the role of family, teachers and personal experience in upbringing at the National Centre RUSSIA on 30 September as part of the Homeroom Teachers' Forum and the School Principals' Forum.

During the panel discussion "Personal Stories: The Values That Shape Us", Alexei Likhachev spoke about the important role his mother — a homeroom teacher and teacher of Russian language and literature — played in shaping him as a person, and about how he and his wife worked with the school while raising their children. Speaking about the values that help shape a child's personality, he emphasised the connection between family and school, as well as the importance of parents setting a personal example in the upbringing process:

"The main value and guiding principle in which a child is raised is love. Yes, love with discipline, with responsibility, but also with trust. Bringing all of this together into a single context is quite difficult, but necessary. And there is no age threshold from which this should begin. A child hears everything, understands everything and looks not only at words, but also at actions. If a child lives in this environment, in an environment of love — for family, for certain subjects and activities, and, of course, love for the Motherland — they will grow into a worthy member of society," noted the head of Rosatom.

Alexei Likhachev also noted a symbolic coincidence: he was appointed Director General of the Rosatom State Corporation by the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, exactly 10 years ago, on 5 October — Teachers' Day. According to the head of the corporation, leading a modern and dynamically developing state corporation involves mentoring and supporting the team across all areas of its work.

The discussion also featured Minister of Education of Russia Sergei Kravtsov, official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova, and Chairman of the Patriarchal Council for Culture, Metropolitan Tikhon (Shevkunov) of Simferopol and Crimea.

From 30 September to 2 October, two major projects were brought together for the first time at the National Centre RUSSIA — the Homeroom Teachers' Forum and the School Principals' Forum, which gathered more than a thousand participants from across the country and abroad.

Both forums are being held on the instructions of the President of the Russian Federation with the support of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation. The Humanitarian Projects Foundation is the operator of the project. VK is the strategic partner, Dialogue Regions is the information partner, and the Russian society Znanie is the partner of the educational programme.