Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:

Vladimir Putin: Ladies and gentlemen,

Mr Gryzlov and I have arranged for this talk to be held before a broader audience. It concerns the first topic that was raised at a meeting of the government today and is related to our report (to parliament).

You know quite well what we have done together to overcome the economic and social crisis. I would like to thank you once again for your prompt decision-making. We have lots of problems, however, and many of them have yet to be addressed. So we have much to discuss, and we have to find the most acceptable and effective ways to meet the challenges this country faces.

Boris Gryzlov: Mr Putin, I would like to begin by thanking you for your response to my remark on how topical teachers' wages are. I intended to discuss it at the State Duma...

Vladimir Putin: So did I. You took the words out of my mouth.

Boris Gryzlov: I felt that it was the perfect time to raise the matter today so as to come up with practical ideas and programmes by April 20. I think it is a critical problem. Thank you for ordering the relevant draft programme coordinated. It would be good to start implementing it by September 1 (the beginning of the academic year).

The government will be reporting to parliament, as the law demands, for a third time now. The State Duma Council will discuss questions for the government on Thursday. You, too, will answer them – it's the law. We accomplished much last year. The United Russia parliamentary group is the stand-in for the executive authority, and we feel that it is because political contention is a permanent state of affairs in the Duma. At every plenary and council meeting of the State Duma, we assert the positions that we have elaborated together during zero readings of bills and during our interregional conferences, which you chair. I think we will continue to do so.

Vladimir Putin: As for the problem you mentioned at the meeting of the government – education and the teachers – I really wanted to make it one of the themes that I intend to bring before the State Duma for consideration during our report. It is of critical importance, and we make no secret of that. I don't think we were wrong to announce it beforehand. So we will talk it over once again. I issued an order to the Ministry of Education and Science today to begin drafting the relevant programme.

An education programme is truly necessary, and we might make it a good one. I mean that we should improve general education nationwide. It is a formidable job, considering Russia's unique position: a vast territory with a great number of schools, many of which have very few students. It is rather expensive to maintain such schools, even though the education they offer is not always in line with the latest standards, to say the least.

We should avoid closing schools where they are needed. We should also improve tuition and make cuts on the expense of education – but how can we do it all at once? Basic educational centres with a network of affiliates might help solve the problem if we extended state-of-the-art online education. It might be one solution in a country as vast as Russia. Managerial expenses at branches of large and competent educational centres can also be reduced. That was point one.

Second, we really can improve the material and technical basis of education, and we are able to monitor that job. Federal grants will put the programme on a real national footing, with the regions co-funding it, and we will monitor its implementation. The Ministry of Healthcare had similar programmes for some regions, and other regions approve of the idea. In other words, if we start a trend and fund the necessary efforts, the regions will join in willingly. We can improve funding and equipment and certainly raise teachers' salaries.

As I have said, (teachers' salaries) should be raised to a level consistent with the average salary of the respective region. This is no simple task, but Moscow and some other regions have coped, while some are still lagging behind, and we cannot make such a broad improvement in one fell swoop. It is hard to increase teachers' salaries by even 30% (in underdeveloped regions), but this is our primary goal. We must then make relevant decisions according to our previous resolutions through qualifying commissions and with the involvement of professional unions.

If we follow that road, we will be able to tackle several problems in school education at once. Certainly, we must step up our collaboration with the regions. I think that this will take several months, judging from our experience with similar regional programmes in healthcare modernisation. Now it is up to the Ministry of Education to join hands with the regions. I think that they can draw up the relevant programmes within three months in order to launch them on September 1. These programmes also demand a legal backing, and I hope that you will help us with it.

Regrettably, the rift between teachers' salaries and the national average is widening. The latter fell nationwide to 18,000 roubles a month in 2009, if I am not mistaken, but rose last year to reach its present level of 20,010 roubles. According to the projections of the Ministry of Economic Development, this year's average wage will be 23,400 roubles a month or even close to 24,000, with 26,475 forecast for next year.

Teachers' salaries are growing much slower. The average was 13,000 roubles a month in 2009, and has barely approached 14,000 even now. So the gap between average earnings and teachers' salaries is widening fast. We must stop this negative trend. Let's work together and see what we can do about it.

United Russia's role in our communities will be of great importance in this context. Party groups in the regional legislatures should be active in drawing regional programmes to modernise education, and should join in monitoring...

Response: And co-funding.

Vladimir Putin: Right, and co-funding. Co-funding and monitoring are indispensable.