01.09.2009
Back to School News From Russia
Number Of Russian School Students Shrinks By 10 Mln Over Decade
MOSCOW, August 29 (Itar-Tass) -- Over the past ten years the number of school students in Russia has reduced by 10 million, the Education and Science Ministry said on Friday. According to the ministry "in the new academic year 12.962 million children will be going to school, 340,000 less than last year (13.3 million). The steady downtrend has been observed since the 1998-1999 school year, when Russia had 22 million school students. On September 1 1.390 million boys and girls will go to school for the first time, 150,000 more than last year. "Russia at the moment has 1.383 teachers, one per nine school students (in 1998-1999 the ratio was one to thirteen), which is the lowest reading as compared with those in countries affiliated with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. About 800,000 teachers are paid a monthly bonus for the supervising instructor function," the Education and Science Ministry said. On the whole Russia has 53,410 secondary education establishments, 3.7 percent less than in the same period last year. This academic year 190 new schools are expected to open. Medvedev Urges Schoolchildren To Learn To Understand Each Other MOSCOW, August 31 (Itar-Tass) -- President Dmitry Medvedev congratulated schoolchildren with Day of Knowledge and the beginning of a new academic year on September 1 and urged them to learn to understand each other in order to preserve the unity of multi-ethnic Russia. "Today all of us adults are slightly envious of you sitting behind your desks at school, for school years are undoubtedly the most exciting, the most eventful and the most unforgettable period in one's life and at the same time the most responsible one. In fact, education becomes the main basis for a successful career and normal and decent life in all respects," the president said in his address posted on his official website on Monday. "The world changes all the time, it becomes increasingly complex, and science and technologies develop rapidly. All this requires constant learning and constant perfection of one's abilities and professional skills," he said. "We pin our hope on you. We believe that you, our children, are the ablest, the most endowed and the brightest and will achieve what you dream about. Your boldness, resourcefulness, creativity and ability to come up with new ideas, and finally your desire to change the world will secure a worthy future to each and all of you," Medvedev said. According to the president, "Modern people should be educated and show respect for and interest in other people's views and convictions. But apart from requisite personal qualities, a critical condition for success is peace and order in our common home - Russia." "There are over 140 million of us. We are very different. More than 180 peoples live in our country, and each of them has unique cultural features. We speak more than 230 languages, and all together we make up one multiethnic people.
There are Orthodox believers, Muslims, Buddhists, Jews, and representatives of other religions among us. Together we form a vibrant and harmonious unity, our spiritual space," Medvedev said. "Learn to understand each other. Take care of each other and of the unique, big and wonderful world of Russia," he said. "I am Russian by nationality. But as far as I can remember I have always been surrounded by people of different ethnic backgrounds. We made friends, we studied and worked together, and simply lived next to each other. And actually we continue to work and be friends. There are millions of examples of such inter-ethnic relationships. Every person has them. We have a common history and a common future. For centuries, mutual understanding and assistance between people of different cultural backgrounds have provided the basis for the historical development of the nation. And we should constantly learn to accept each other as we are irrespective of ethnic or religious background, convictions or customs, to learn to respect each other and safeguard inter-ethnic accord in our country," the president said. "Unfortunately, conflicts often break out in the modern world. There are those who seek to make peoples quarrel with each other in order to achieve their own selfish purposes," Medvedev said. "But they will not succeed. We are stronger. Because friendship and good-neighbourliness are stronger than evil and hatred."
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