More than 300 members of parent communities took part in an open dialogue with the Minister of Education of the Russian Federation at the National Centre RUSSIA
On 26 August, the XII All-Russian Parents' Meeting was held at the National Centre RUSSIA. It was organized by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation in cooperation with Russian society Znanie. Over 300 representatives of the All-Russian Parent Committee, members of the regional parent committee, and more than 180 winners of the parent community initiative competition from 53 regions of the country took part in the open dialogue with Minister Sergey Kravtsov.
The agenda of the meeting encompassed questions and suggestions submitted by members of the parent communities from all over the country. They have sent them via a chatbot "Parent's question to the Minister" in the national messenger MAX. The main discussion was about the upcoming 2025/26 academic year. Among other things, such topical issues were raised as child rearing, parent education, career guidance and support for teachers, protection of schoolchildren from cyberbullying, as well as the safety of studying in schools in border areas. The discussion went in the format of an open dialogue.
"In general, I want to say that the education system is ready for the start of the school year. Rospotrebnadzor, law enforcement agencies and regional ministries assessed all school buildings, kindergartens, and colleges. All necessary requirements have been met. It is important that the school year is as safe as possible. <...> Starting from 1 September, our key order No. 704 is being introduced, which actually completes the formation of a unified educational space in our country. Working on the unified programme, we relied on both Soviet and modern experience. At the same time, opinions of methodologists, scholars, and the teaching community were taken into account. The main task is to provide high-quality knowledge and a broad outlook in all subjects," said Sergey Kravtsov, Minister of Education of the Russian Federation.
According to him, many questions which parents had asked were about homework. The minister emphasized that the order sets a limit to its amount and the time required to complete it, taking into account the study load and age specifics of the child. For example, in the first grade, children should spend 1 hour doing their homework, in the second and third grades — one hour and a half, and in the fourth grade — 2 hours. The minister also noted that this year, education has become the third most popular field of study according to the results of the university admission campaign, reaching 590 thousand applications.
In addition, statesmen, teachers, and leading experts in the field of education and science took part in the All-Russian Parents' Meeting. Among them were Olga Koludarova and Vladimir Zhelonkin, Deputy Ministers of Education of the Russian Federation; Maxim Dreval, Director General of Russian society Znanie; Konstantin Fedorenko, Chairman of the All-Russian Parent Committee, Director of the Artek International Children's Centre; Alexander Kudryashov, Director of the Russian Children's and Youth Centre; Artur Orlov, Chairman of the Board of the All-Russian Public and State Movement of Children and Youth "Movement of the First"; Elena Malysheva, Head of the National Centre for Historical Memory under the President of the Russian Federation; Egor Litvinenko, State Secretary, Deputy Head of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs; and Igor Kruglinsky, Deputy Head of the Federal Service for Supervision of Education and Science.
"Over the past academic year, together with the parent community and the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, we managed to build effective collaboration. Today we are together responding to the challenges of our time. The world is changing very dynamically, and along with it generations of people, values, and approaches to educational work are also changing. We at the Russian society Znanie want to be helpers to parents here. So, we have already had two seasons of the parent initiative competition, and during this time the project has shown its relevance and importance. Parent committees from all over the country took part in it, and now we see how their projects are being implemented, and how beneficial they are. In addition, we have many educational programmes dealing with the pressing issues, like prevention of gambling addiction, digital literacy, and some particular educational skills. We are ready to help the parents develop both in person and online," Maxim Dreval said.
In addition to the dialogue with the Minister, sessions with experts were organized for the participants of the All-Russian Parent Meeting. At these sessions they discussed important topics in more detail, including the competition of parental initiatives. On behalf of the President of the Russian Federation, it was decided to extend the time of competition. During the period of its existence, cash prizes were awarded to 1,215 winners. Natalia Makarova, head of "Znanie.Parents of Russian Society Znanie", said that in 2025, Russian Society Znanie will launch an accelerator of applications. It will bring together about 1,000 project groups, and new initiatives introduced by parents will be worked out individually over the course of 7 weeks. Marina Romanyuk, head of the Grant support department of the All-Russian Public and State Movement of Children and Youth "Movement of the First", also took part in the discussion. She spoke about the grant support of educational organizations provided by Movement of the First.
There was also a separate section for members of the All-Russian and regional Parent Committees (APC and RPC). There, Konstantin Fedorenko, Chairman of the All-Russian Parent Committee, Director of the Artek International Children's Centre, presented strategic proposals for the development of the parent community for the 2025/26 academic year. According to him, the main task at the moment is to upgrade the work of the VRK and the RRK, taking into account the revision of the activities of the working groups, and creation of a horizontal and vertical mentoring system to oversee the regions. He also announced that the Forum "Parents Online" and the new session "Parents with Knowledge" are to be held at the Mashuk Knowledge Centre.
During one of the discussions, opportunities for children and parents were discussed. Albina Bikbulatova, Director of the Department for Relations with Educational Organizations at Society Znanie; Igor Yurgin, Director of the Department of State Policy in the Field of Upbringing, Additional Education and Children's Recreation at the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, Hero of Russia; Elena Kurochka, Head of the Department of Media Communications with the Parent Community at the Internet Content Management of the Russian Children's and Youth Centre; Oksana Achkasova, Deputy Director General of Russia -- Land of Opportunity, and Margarita Cherkashina, Project Manager of the Family Community "Family — Loved Ones" of the All-Russian Public and State Movement of Children and Youth "Movement of the First", told parents about ongoing projects for children and youth which are being implemented at the federal and regional levels. A special session "Important Knowledge for Parents: Upbringing, Career Guidance, Safety" was also held, where experts commented on a number of topics of parents' concern, and discussed the requests which will lie at the root of a plan of events, lectures and workshops, which Society Znanie is going to develop.
Event photobank
The competition was dedicated to the release of the podcast "Russia Speaks" with Tatiana Kurtukova.
