The contest for the Best Vocational Training Practices hosted by the Agency for Strategic Initiatives on Smarteka accepted 350 applications from 70 Russian regions.

The most applications came from the Belgorod, Tambov, Tyumen, Samara Regions, Krasnodar Territory, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), and Tatarstan, as well as from Moscow and St. Petersburg.

While government institutions proposed most of the projects, private educators also took part.

"The accepted applications have yet to be evaluated by experts, but I can already note good research and their diversity. Most popular nominations included Innovative Teaching Methods, Business Personnel, E-Learning, Digitalization Trend, and Social Practice. We will develop the learning opportunity map together with those regions that have made most applications," Zhanna Kadyleva, Director of the Center for Initiatives of the Young Professionals Direction at ASI, said.

Smarteka experts, education experts and top employers will assess all applications on or before August 17, 2021. The shortlist will be based on the assessment results. For each nomination, they will select at least three (3) winners with the highest average score.

The winners announced at the end of August will present their practices at the ASI expert sessions and be awarded access to the ANO “2035 University” training courses.

The contest partners with the Ministry of Education of Russia, the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia, the ANO "Agency for the Development of Professional Skills (Worldskills Russia)," and the ANO “2035 University”. The contest's purpose is to identify the best solutions and effective methods aimed at creating HR services for education and business to encourage the self-realization of people and disseminate the best practices.