Opportunities of supplementary education for participants of SMO were discussed at the RUSSIA EXPO

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On July 3, the Exposition discussed opportunities for supplementary education for participants of the Special Military Operation (SMO). Representatives of state organizations, educational centres and large companies took part in the expert discussion within the framework of the Continuing Education Forum. The CEF was organized by the Russian Society "Knowledge" and the Mashuk Knowledge Centre.

The meeting was opened by the moderator of the discussion — Anton Serikov, Director General of the Mashuk Knowledge Centre and Deputy Director General of the Russian Society "Knowledge".

"When we were deciding what issues to include in the program of the Continuing Education Forum, the topic of training and retraining of the SMO participants was repeated from speaker to speaker. This shows its importance. Today a truly representative community has gathered here, where business, public organizations and participants of the SMO can exchange opinions," said Anton Serikov.

Dmitry Shevchenko, Deputy Director of the Centre for Military Sports Training and Patriotic Education of Youth "VOIN" ("Warrior") told how additional education helps veterans of the Special Military Operation.

"The 'VOIN' Centre is an organization that was created on the instructions of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin. It is engaged in military-sports training and patriotic education of children and youth. We teach children to love the Motherland and to be able to defend it. The peculiarity of the Centre is that most of the instructors are participants of military operations, including the SMO. Before starting their work, the instructors undergo professional training, in fact, they get a new pedagogical specialty. And then they themselves implement educational programs of the Centre," said Dmitry Shevchenko.

The discussion was attended by the participants of the Special Military Operation: the author of the book "War in 16" Andrei Savelyev and a teacher of School No. 1409 on Fundamentals of Health and Safety Education, instructor in UAV and tactical medicine Ivan Bondyukov. They shared their experience and told what tasks of the society can be solved by the veterans of the SMO.

"When the Special Military Operation began, I wondered, what will we leave behind for the children? With military operations everything is clear: there we fulfill our duty, protect positions, rescue the wounded. And then? I realized that it is necessary to deal with our children, to instill in them the right values. That is why I came to school to work as Fundamentals of Health and Safety Education teacher. Plus I conduct additional classes on UAV control and tactical medicine," Ivan Bondyukov explained.

Dmitry Shakhanov, Deputy Director General for Social and Personnel Issues at Russian Railways, and Vera Podguzova, Senior Vice President and Director for External Relations at Promsvyazbank, presented to the audience the support measures that businesses offer to participants of the SMO, in particular offering free professional development and training in new professions. The discussion was also attended by Tatyana Lototskaya, Deputy Chairman of the State Fund for Support of SMO participants "Defenders of the Fatherland" for the social block, and Elena Belikova, Director of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "Rospatriotcentre".

The Continuing Education Forum is intended to become a key discussion platform for addressing the challenges and prospects of this sphere. The program of July 3 includes 15 events: plenary discussion, expert and foresight discussions, meetings of expert councils, round tables.