Vladimir Putin’s address:

Ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to congratulate you on the end of this academic year and to thank you for your hard work, which is very important for the country. Students will now sit at examinations and then will be dispersed for their summer holiday, but for teachers this is a time to consider their performance and develop new objectives.

The Russian Pedagogical Assembly, one of the largest public organisations in the sphere of education, unites teachers and parents’ committees. I would describe this congress as an enlarged teachers’ council meeting, which should outline a joint action programme for improving the Russian education system.

You have a very important and noble mission – to teach children. I know that I am not saying anything new, but I still want to say it once more: You not only provide knowledge but, acting in line with Russian educational traditions, also guidance to our young people, largely determining their world view, values and stand in life. In fact, you give them the foundation for developing their potential in life. The country’s development for decades ahead, the nation’s prospects and competitiveness depend on you, on the quality and substance of your work.

“The school is the future of Russia,” Sergei Trubetskoy, a Russian philosopher and rector of Moscow State University, said at the beginning of the past century. These words are a concise formula for all time, for all historical and political ages.

When defining the priorities of national development in the early 2000s, we picked out education as one of the key areas and decided to launch a corresponding national project. While carrying this project out, the government invested an additional 100 billion roubles into upgrading general education. We primarily invested into the development and support of schools and innovation programmes and created a system of incentives for the best supervising instructors, teachers, talented young people and students. In just five years, the consolidated budget of the education system increased not by a few percentage points but it doubled to exceed two trillion roubles this year. The government will spend a huge sum of two trillion roubles on education this year.

We have carried out comprehensive programmes for modernising education in 31 regions. In the process, we have accumulated unique experience and streamlined the key mechanisms for developing the Russian school. Most importantly, we have attracted public attention and focused the efforts of the authorities at all levels on the problems of schools and education in general, which is very important as it is.

And one more point. Here are some revealing statistics. During the implementation of the national project Education the number of juvenile crimes in Russia has decreased by 40% and the number of children expelled from schools for poor progress has been 3.5 times lower. Credit for this largely goes to you, to modernised schools.

Now we must look ahead, relying on the foundation that has already been created and upgrade the general educational standards in the country. We must make quality, modern education accessible to all children regardless of their family's social status, their place of birth or residence. The government must ensure an equal start to all of its young citizens.

This fully applies to children with disabilities. Our primary task is to mainstream them – enable them to study in common educational establishments and not to feel isolated from society beginning in their early years. All children should study and grow up together regardless of their physical health. Communication with their peers will help them get on their feet; this should be the norm and we must start this work at school. Ultimately, a society's attitude to its disabled people is a measure of that society's civility in any country.

By 2016, the number of schools with this barrier-free environment must be increased by more than eight times – from 1,200 today to 10,000, and this work must be continued in the future. We must also actively introduce distance learning for children with disabilities because that may open up opportunities for self-fulfillment. Incidentally, today the share of mainstream schools is a mere 2.5% in Russia. The number of children receiving education at home out of the total number of children with disabilities that require this form of education is 53%. At least, this is a more or less decent figure.

It goes without saying that we need to search for talents and develop them. We have many talented children in every region – in cities and villages and the remotest parts of our homeland. We must not miss or lose a single one of them. This year we'll begin establishing centres for the support of gifted children and distance learning programmes at our leading institutions of higher education, including national research universities. The efforts to encourage gifted children will produce results if carried out seriously at the regional and local levels.

I'd like to say a few words about the Belgorod Region by way of example. They have formed a whole system of search and support for gifted children. At this year's national academic competition of students, the Belgorod Region took first place in the team contest. In other words, more than half of all members of the regional team were among the victors and prize winners, leaving St Petersburg and Moscow behind. This is the way to go!

I'd like to emphasise once again that the education system must carry out in full the function of a social lift, opening doors to the economy, politics, culture and other fields of human endeavour for talented and ambitious young people. Only the influx of fresh blood will enable us to ensure the dynamic development of this country.

Now I'd like to say a few words about the Unified State Exam (USE). Of course, this system has room for improvement. First of all, we must enhance public control over how it is conducted. Needless to say, USE procedures are not completely immune to all sorts of abuses. In this context, teachers at institutions of higher education, their school colleagues, and parents have every reason to criticise the USE. Perhaps it is unnecessary to say this to this audience, but I’ll mention that its goal is to provide a more accurate assessment of the quality of both curricula and teachers and, most importantly, to considerably broaden the opportunities for children from the countryside and remote parts of the country to continue their education in the best national centres. Thus, almost 60% of the students that matriculated in St Petersburg’s higher educational institutions came from outside that city.

Colleagues,

Our society is currently embroiled in heated debate. What do we want to teach our children? What knowledge and skills should they have? In a word, what should our education be like? The American, Western European, and even Asian educational systems are often mentioned as models. In the meantime, we have our own traditions and our own obvious advantages!

We will preserve the best features of our domestic education, including the indisputable benefits of Soviet schooling, while upgrading the educational system. We cannot afford to make no headway. Our educational system must meet the challenges of the times and absorb the world’s innovations and fresh ideas.

We will absolutely preserve free general education. This is one of the fundamental provisions of our Constitution and nobody is going to relinquish it. The state must and will pay in full for the entire educational process and the upkeep and development of schools, including repairs, the purchase of equipment, and the remuneration of teachers. This goes without saying!

As before, the budget should foot the bill for the fundamental educational programme in line with the federal standards, including such mandatory subjects as the Russian language, literature, a foreign language, math, physics, chemistry, history, biology, PT classes, and so on. Any specialised education, such as the introduction of the modular principle and profile classes, must not occur at the expense of children’s comprehensive development.

Today, technological modernisation is taking place at such a fantastic pace that the ability to develop continuously and acquire new skills matters even more than any narrow field of professional knowledge, as important as those professions are. We can only achieve this goal through fundamental basic education. It is also impermissible to allow education to devolve into the parroting of rote knowledge. It is essential to develop such qualities as critical thinking and the ability to find information, analyse it, and derive conclusions and results.

And one more point. Russia has tremendous historical experience in preserving the ethnic and cultural identities of the peoples who inhabit its vast territory. Our longstanding experience of mutual cultural enrichment is no less important. We must preserve and consolidate these traditions and pass them from one generation to another. We must always remember that one of the biggest causes of inter-ethnic conflict lies in illiteracy, poor education, and the lack of knowledge about one’s culture and that of one’s neighbours.

Since 2010, 19 regions have launched an experimental course on the fundamentals of religious culture and secular ethics in the fourth and fifth grades. Now it is being taught in 21 regions. The results of this experiment will be summarised at the end of next year. This is a very sensitive issue, and all decisions in this sphere must be thoroughly balanced.

Now I’d like to say a few words about senior school students. I think it is necessary to place an emphasis on their professional orientation. We must not simply help them choose a future profession but also prepare them for their chosen field by giving them the best education in their profession. Senior school students must have an opportunity to choose academic courses at their schools and deepen their knowledge in specific directions, for instance, by remotely taking preparatory courses at institutions of higher education or studying in modular programmes at specialised schools, so that they can enter their chosen college or university without having to pay for tutoring. By the way, it makes sense to consider giving more freedom to schools in shaping their general educational programmes. Needless to say, parents, communities, and the state must exercise strict control over the results of this process and the quality of the education being offered.

I’d like to emphasise once again that it is important for us to make sure that the educational process is not depersonalised.  It should be built around individual students, taking into account their inclinations and abilities. This is the logic that should be reflected in our new educational standards. Obviously, the aforementioned principles must be included in the new law on education that we are currently drafting.

What would I like to say in this respect? I’m convinced that such fundamental documents as the law on education will be effective only if they are socially adopted as the result of broad and open discussion.

It is not enough to consult a narrow circle of “seasoned” experts or put projects on the official sites of federal and regional departments – such formal public judgment is useless and ineffective. It is necessary to build live communications and attentively listen to all the opinions expressed by parents and by teachers themselves. If there is a real problem or legal flaw, it should be promptly removed. If the public experiences anxiety because of a lack of information, it is necessary to patiently explain these decisions. I’d like to treat what I’ve said as an instruction to the Ministry of Education and Science and our colleagues in the regions. I’m sure they will hear us.

All of us must learn to accept not only compliments but criticism as well. Mr Fursenko (Minister of Education and Science) has already said that there were many statements made in the course of this work. I hope that is the case. We have many public organisations and people involved in the federal centre and, most importantly, in the regions that sincerely want to make Russian education better and more up-to-date. Their opinions and positions should be heard and then taken into account in practical work. At any rate, all sound proposals must be considered.

In this regard, I’d like to thank the Russian Pedagogical Assembly. We are working here today at its initiative. Incidentally, it is just such organisations – organisations that are proactive, that rely on broad public support and come up with constructive ideas – that we invite to join the Popular Front, about which I hope you’ve heard.

We invite professional and industrial unions, as well as youth and environmental organisations that are involved in important social projects, to join us in addressing our mutual tasks. We believe that active citizens should help in setting the national agenda, as well as in making important decisions that will lend new dynamism to Russia’s development.

Today I have already dwelt upon the priority project Education. Over the course of its implementation, schools have been provided with 55,000 sets of equipment for physics, biology, chemistry, and geography classes. About 10,000 school buses have been procured. Computers with access to the internet have been installed in practically all schools. Funds have been allocated from the federal budget to pay for classroom management. I would like to stress that we will continue such practices and in 2011-2012, we will direct 11 billion roubles annually for this purpose as part of the national project Education.

It’s no secret, that there were proposals to allocate payments for classroom management from regional budgets. But I still believe federal budget funding to be more secure, at least currently.

We realise that only the most serious problems have been resolved, although not everywhere. Today, more than 10,000 schools need urgent repairs, 20% of schools have no water supply, 15% lack central heating, and a quarter of all schools do not have sewage systems. More than 900 schools are in emergency conditions. When people see a dilapidated building, it does not matter for them which level of power – municipal, regional, or even federal – is responsible. However, the latter is not directly liable in this case.

I don’t think it’s right for the federal authorities to remain uninvolved. So, from the current year on, we will be allocating an additional 1 billion roubles to solving the problems of schools that are in a state of emergency. Moreover, in five years’ time, there will be one million more students than today, which means that the demographic project has been effective. With the growing birth rate, we should not repeat our previous mistakes with schools and kindergartens. We must prepare the necessary number of school buildings in a timely manner. Although I am talking to professionals, perhaps not all of them know the exact figures. For those who don’t, I’d like to cite them. As of January 1, 2011, we had 13,218,998 school pupils, 9,5 million of whom attend urban schools and about 4,300,700 of whom attend rural ones. The construction of 670 new schools has been planned for 2011-2013 under various federal targeted programmes, as well as regional and local ones.

Surely, the Russian Federation and its regions and municipalities must unite in solving these problems. We must set priorities and find the necessary funds. That is why we proposed a serious programme for the modernisation of Russian schools. It has two aspects, two goals. The first is to renovate the school system throughout the country and to create comfortable and modern conditions for work and study. The second is to raise the social status of teachers.

Over the next two academic years, the Russian regions will receive an additional 120 billion roubles from the federal budget. These funds are specifically intended to modernise the secondary education system. In addition to this amount, the regions will contribute at least 60 billion roubles, and we will ensure that they comply.

The government has already approved all necessary measures with regard to the terms and procedures for the allocation of funds. The first 20 billion roubles will be allocated to the regions as early as August of this year. An additional 60 billion roubles will be provided next year, and the remaining 40 billion will be allocated in 2013, amounting to 120 billion over the course of two academic years.

The funds provided by the federal government should help achieve a qualitative improvement in schools’ material and technical capacities in the shortest term possible. Today, almost one third of all schools have no cafeterias, or their cafeterias do not meet the appropriate standards. Less than half of schools have properly equipped medical offices, and only a third of all students have access to modern and well-equipped gyms.  

These funds will allow the regions to purchase the necessary equipment for school labs, gyms, medical offices, and cafeterias. They will be able to acquire computers and sign up for high-speed internet access (providing opportunities for distance learning), replenish school libraries, and purchase vehicles for student transportation.  

This work will require appropriate planning. The activities that are not as time consuming, for example, should be implemented this year. This will enable us to improve the quality of education and the conditions at schools as soon as possible. We should immediately begin inspecting schools, start planning the maintenance work, and prepare estimates for the repairs needed. I urge our colleagues in the regions to take this into account. 

A few words on the distribution of funds among the regions. We have decided to allocate funds based on the number of students in city and village schools. And I would like to emphasise that twice as much will be allocated to rural schools. I believe this is fair. We need to ensure that rural schools meet modern requirements and create an effective education system in rural areas in the shortest possible time.  

Here, I would like to mention the problems faced by small schools. Children living in rural areas should have access to quality education on par with that available in cities. Therefore, the material base in rural schools should meet the most up-to-date requirements. And instructors in village schools should not teach several disciples, but only the ones in which they specialise. Clearly, this would be a challenging task to accomplish in schools with less than 20 students.   

In preparing for this meeting, I checked the industry statistics. It appears that the teacher shortage has been mostly resolved throughout the country. For example, there are only about 300 vacancies of foreign language teachers in all of Russia.  

But, of course, small schools still face many problems. I travel frequently around the country, and, during my trips, I visit schools and talk to people. I once asked if they had an English teacher at a school. It turned out they had one, but he was a veterinarian by training. In fact, it is quite possible today that a veterinarian speaks fluent English, but it does not mean that he is a good teacher. These are different things after all. Teaching is a science and an art of its own.       

In small schools, biology instructors often teach physical training and shop instructors teach computer science. This is very difficult for the teachers, and it is wrong in principle. In the end, it is the children who suffer as a result, as well as the quality of their education. This undermines their chances from the outset. Therefore, we need to modernise the education system in rural areas by establishing base schools, creating distance learning facilities, and making them available in small schools. 

We need to find solutions for each specific case. For example, branches of larger or base schools, as I said earlier, could be created in small settlements. In this way, we would be able to maintain small schools and simultaneously cut excessive overhead.

Of course, in general, it is very costly for the regions to maintain small schools and cover for electricity and other utilities. But instead of simply shutting them down, we could open branches of good schools in their stead. I think this would help us improve the quality of education and reduce maintenance costs.

By August 1, 2011, we will sign an agreement with each region and clearly specify the criteria for evaluating the efficiency of the regional programmes to modernise the secondary education system. This will allow us to closely monitor how the funds are being spent, what results are being achieved, and most importantly whether the main condition for the provision of federal resources is being observed. As you know, I am referring to higher salaries for teachers.

Where will the resources for these raises come from? I have already discussed this, and I would like to remind this audience once again that raises are absolutely essential in many fields. Under the proposed programme, the regions will be able to freely disburse federal allocations for school maintenance, repairs, and equipment purchases. We will ask them to spend such allocations on teachers’ salaries. This will be stipulated in every agreement we sign with the regions.

Anton Chekhov once said: “It is ridiculous to pay pennies to a person who is called upon to educate the people.” But teachers’ salaries in Russia are quite modest – just over 15,000 roubles (a month), on average. Some teachers get 5,500 roubles, but I’m talking about average salaries, just like “average” temperatures. We must face the facts. These statistics are real. True, it is not a very objective indicator. Teachers in Moscow now get the same salaries as those posted on average by the city economy. Barring Moscow and St Petersburg, as well as the salaries of longtime teachers, the overall situation is far worse. I know that, and everything is on record.

In some regions, teachers get only around 7,000 roubles. This is far less than the average wage and the salaries posted by regional economies. Beginner teachers get 5,500 roubles in some regions. By the way, average nationwide wages and salaries are 22,684 roubles. Average teachers’ salaries account for 70% of this total. We have made a decision. Starting September 1, 2011, teachers’ wage funds are to soar by 30%. In the next two years, average teachers’ salaries should match the average wages posted by regional economies, to say the least. We expect many regions to accomplish this objective much earlier.

I am meeting with the governors. Quite a few regions are saying they will implement the reforms starting September 1, 2011 or in early 2012. This can be accomplished nationwide in two years.

Of course, there should be no automatic equalisation in the process of giving raises. Teachers’ skills, professionalism, and attitude towards their work should be taken into account. The best teachers, who are striving to improve their professionalism and aptitudes, should be supported. The upcoming salary raises are the most essential first step. Naturally, we will have to do more later on.

I think that virtually all those present in this hall will confirm that teachers have to work additional hours in order to earn good money. This exceeds 18 hours per week, as stipulated by the basic wage rates. Some teachers work over 36 hours a week, while the average nationwide working hours for teachers are 24 hours, depending on the region.

Given 36-hour working weeks, it is very difficult to deal with each student individually and prepare for each lesson. Quality inevitably gets worse. In the long run, all our efforts must reduce excessive loads on teachers and ensure their adequate remuneration.

As far as junior-level teachers are concerned, we, as you know, have decided to reduce their workload from 20 hours to 18 hours per week. I would like to ask the Ministry of Education and Science to complete this work and to coordinate everything before the next academic year.

I would like to add that, starting June 1, the wages and salaries of all public sector employees will be indexed by 6.5% under the Law on the Budget. Right now, we are doing our best to facilitate another indexation in autumn 2011. Such indexation is a signal for the Russian regions. As far as teachers’ wages are concerned, this is a serious indicator of regional governments’ performance and responsibility. Speaking of some regions… Central Russia stipulates approximately the same economic conditions. Teachers in the Belgorod Region get an average salary of 15,000 roubles, while those in the Kursk and Bryansk regions receive almost two times less. This is extremely indicative of the priorities these regions have and the manner in which they pursue them. I hope that the representatives of regional governments will listen to us attentively today and that they will draw the appropriate conclusions.

Of course, subsequent salary hikes are linked with changes in the legal status of schools and their funding principles. The relevant mechanisms are reflected in the well-known 83^rd Federal Law, which should enter into force completely next summer.

Schools are becoming more independent in tackling current issues, including financial issues. And such independence should not be limited. I would like to note here that so-called administrative barriers and various motivated and unmotivated checks have also affected our schools. Tens of millions of roubles are spent on fines imposed by fault-finding officials. A lot of time is wasted on filling out forms and records for military recruiting offices, social services, juvenile delinquency inspectorates, regional and municipal education departments, and so on. We must, at long last, straighten things out here. This is obvious, and we must be guided by common sense.

I am asking the Ministry of Education and Science and the regions, as well as the municipalities, to revise the list of forms and records being submitted by general education establishments and to rid school administrations of work that is sometimes absolutely pointless.

If you recall, Federal Law No. 83 addresses per capita financing principles whereby, instead of estimating an overall budget, the government places an order on the education of a specific student, and schools receive clear-cut requests for the provision of services in terms of scope, quality, and so on. 

Since there are lot of myths and hearsay about this law, I’d like to reiterate that the government will continue to provide financing to educational institutions in full. I’d like to set the record straight: there’s no way we are going to switch to fee-based education, including fee-based instruction in particular subjects.

The operational funds that schools will save after they become independent could be used for purposes identified by school officials and parent associations, including increasing teachers’ salaries.

This law was tested first in Novgorod and other Russian cities. Just a few days ago, the mayor of Novgorod said at a meeting that teachers’ salaries more than doubled under this law – from 8,000 [a month] to almost 18,000 roubles. Certainly, none of them want to return to the previous arrangements. I don’t think there is anything to be afraid of. We just need to enforce these legal regulations in a smart and responsible manner.

The salaries of young teachers are a separate issue. They get paid as little as 5,500 roubles in certain regions. Clearly, the graduates of teacher training colleges seek employment outside of schools. In 2010, the share of teachers aged 30 and younger was less than 13% across Russia. In addition to length of service, the new remuneration system takes into account teachers’ skill levels and quality of work. The system of advanced training that we are currently introducing should secure the professional growth of teachers and lead to higher positions. Therefore, young teachers will have real motivation and opportunities for advancing their careers and getting higher salaries.

Regrettably, the number of young teachers steadily declined from 6.3% in 2006 to 5.3% in 2010. Conversely, the share of teachers of retirement age increased from 16% to 18%.

You know that a pilot project to attract younger teachers is underway. They have selected 700 graduates from teacher training colleges who decided to go to remotely located schools. The regional authorities provided them with housing, while the government gave each of them 500,000 roubles to cover their expenses while settling in during the first two years.  I am confident that the arrival of young and ambitious teachers… Are there any such young teachers in the audience? There are? Yes, there are.

Audience remark: Would you please stand up so that we can take a look at you and give you a round of applause. Good work! There are so many of you. You are the ones to succeed the older generation of teachers.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you. I hope they made good on their promises and gave you places to live. Good grief, you have to check everything in this country, absolutely everything. We did allocate funds from the federal budget for these purposes. But I’m not sure if they were used to provide you with apartments.

I am confident that the arrival of young and ambitious teachers and modern administrators to Russian schools will give a boost to the entire educational system. Much depends on regional and municipal policies. Certain regions, by far not the most affluent ones, have chosen this path. For example, the Magadan Region authorities decided to provide young professionals with suitable accommodations and pay them 200,000 roubles annually over a period of three years. That’s a very good practice. Excellent work.

In rural areas, where 42% of all teachers find employment, I believe that such supportive measures should apply to all teachers regardless of age.

Certainly, there’s a need to renew the teacher corps. We need to apply an individual approach to each teacher, including the ones that are nearing the age of retirement. Retiring teachers should receive help in dealing with social issues. These matters are addressed differently in different regions. For example, a retiring teacher in the Pskov Region with a length of service of 25 years and up receives a one-time severance package in the amount of 60,000 roubles.

Certainly, we need to retain experienced teachers at our schools so that they can share their knowledge with their younger colleagues and serve as mentors. We should support such work using the bonus money from the salary fund.

School librarians deserve a special mention. We have 50,000 of them working in our schools. These people perform a very important and useful function, however they are referred to as support personnel on paper. They don’t just check out books. They maintain a certain level of culture, or at least they are supposed to, and they help students navigate a sea of information and expand their horizons. Unfortunately, their salaries are at least 30% lower than teachers’ salaries, and they are not entitled to the benefits enjoyed by teachers.

Let me inform you that we decided to create a new position: the teacher librarian. This decision was taken, all the papers were signed, and this initiative will be enacted soon. It will improve the status of school librarians. Their average salary should increase, just like teachers’ salaries, and reach the regional economic standard.

This new status calls for new responsibilities. Just like other teachers, school librarians will go through performance evaluation procedures. They must be comfortable using the latest technologies and internet resources, including online databases maintained by leading Russian and international libraries.

I’d like to point out that higher salaries should lead to better education. It’s not accidental that a significant part of the funds allocated under the project for improving the Russian school system will be used to improve teachers’ professional skills. In addition, the federal targeted programme “Development of Education”, the Ministry of Education, and Russia’s regions will join in this effort. We will establish training and career advancement facilities for teachers and executive educators in all federal districts, and they will serve as centres for providing methodical and technical support to educational facilities. About 100,000 teachers will take advanced training courses at such facilities.

We want our future teachers to be well versed in their respective subject matters and in the latest educational techniques. We want them to be experts who understand the intricacies of the teaching process and child psychology and use modern educational techniques. I want the Ministry of Education and Science to submit proposals regarding the upgrade of all levels of teacher training.

No matter what trade or vocation your students might choose later in life, it’s very important that they become good citizens and love their country. You know that the majority of your students love you. I had favourite teachers, too, and so did you. It’s important that the children carry this moral support into their future lives and apply this feeling of love for their homeland. I am confident that you can bring up such people and that you have everything you need in order to do so: knowledge, experience, and, most importantly, love for our children.

I sincerely wish you every success in your work. Thank you very much.

* * *

Final words by Vladimir Putin

Thank you very much for your support and discussion. A few comments, if I may. I'd like to comment on several speeches – not all of them, of course, but just a few.

First, Ms Terekhina (principal at secondary school No. 15, Kaluga) said that the funds to be used for the improvement of professional skills should be sent to schools rather than institutions of higher education. These funds are allocated by the regional authorities, and we will recommend that they do so. With regard to the federal funds released under the programme that we discussed today, 120 billion roubles to be dispensed over two years, and we will stipulate in our agreements with the regions that the funds for advanced teacher training should be sent directly to schools, so that they can choose training courses at their discretion. We will do it.

Now, as for housing. It's an important issue across all industries, including education. Certainly, we cannot buy expensive apartments in the regions. If you think of it, even the travelling expenses involved in moving from Moscow or St Petersburg to a remote rural area are very high. But you are absolutely right in pointing out that this is a very important issue. Certain regional programmes enjoy particularly high demand; therefore, modern, economy-class apartments are a viable option. This question needs to be discussed with the regional authorities to see what we can do.

Now for the 700 or 780 young volunteers who decided to go work in Russia's regions. They get 500,000 roubles to settle in, but this amount is taxable at a personal income tax rate. Someone proposed to remove this legal requirement with regard to these funds. I must say that... Would that be a good decision?

Audience remark: Yes.

Vladimir Putin: The economics professors would say that we cannot undermine the basic premises of the taxation system with exceptions or benefits. However, we will tackle this issue. How? We'll just add another 50 million roubles in order to offset taxes paid by our young volunteers.

There's another controversial issue with regard to assessing the quality of work and whether it should affect remuneration. Certainly, we cannot simply tie one to the other, but if we don't somehow connect them, we'll end up removing all incentives for good work. All of them. It is a very debatable issue.

I apologise for using such administrative clichés as "medical or educational services". Certainly, you are right that there are others: "services to ensure defence capabilities". This is all very conventional. There are very awkward clichés like the demographic term "survival age". It sounds awful. The term refers to the average number of years a person lives after retirement. It sounds morbid, but the demographers say it, it's a technical term, and there's no way around it. Speaking of the survival age, the average life expectancy in Russia – I digress – is below that of Europe, while the survival age is the same. That's because retired people in Russia live as long as their counterparts in Europe. The average life expectancy in Russia is lower than in Europe because many people die relatively young due to heavy drinking, accidents, and so on.

Audience remark: And bad eating habits.

Vladimir Putin: Absolutely right.

There was a proposal to use funds allocated under the two-year programme – 120 billion roubles – to support schools that are transitioning to autonomous operation. That way, we would force them to go autonomous. We have had the experience of forced transitions with collective farming. I believe we've had enough of that. However, the agreements to be signed by the ministry and regional authorities will set forth requirements for switching to new remuneration systems. I'm talking about bonuses and the like. Generally, we plan to do so.

Now, as for the support for non-profit organisations, including the Russian Pedagogical Assembly. The 2011 budget provides for supporting socially-oriented organisations, and the Russian Pedagogical Assembly should absolutely be included on that list.

You are absolutely right about the need to streamline the procedure for issuing grants and state awards. We will work on it together with the presidential administration.

Now, with regard to the need for more teachers to be represented in the federal authorities and executive and governing bodies, including the United Russia group in the State Duma. Ms Terekhina quoted a proverb, I think it's Chinese: May you not live in times of change. I instantly thought of another one: To see farther, you must sit higher. We will certainly use United Russia to make sure that the pedagogical community is well represented in the State Duma.

To conclude, I'd like to say that the point of today's discussion is to improve the quality of education and raise teachers' status. I believe that if we apply the same vigour we displayed in today's discussions to actual work, we will be entirely successful in what we are trying to achieve.

Thank you very much.