The Agency for Strategic Initiatives has launched the Smarteka contest to select Advanced Technologies for Professional Training best practices involving educational institutions. It will identify the best solutions and methods to create HR services for education and business and encourage self-fulfillment.

"I am sure that every educational organization has effective methods that are used on a daily basis, but others do not know about it, and businesses have solutions that are useful for the education system. This contest will select the best HR services for business, and the Agency will promote them," Yuliya Khanzhina, Deputy Head of the Young Professionals Direction at ASI, said.

Colleges, universities, and organizations of additional education are invited to participate. Applications are accepted on Smarteka on or before July 12, 2021. Any participant may submit an unlimited number of applications. The selection 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 “NTI 2035 University”.

"We believe that the ASI's selection contest is an effective way to identify new trends in vocational education aiming to shape a new strategy for secondary vocational education. We are committed to looking at the best solutions to scale them up to the federal level," Viktor Neumyvakin, Director of the Department of State Policy in Secondary Vocational Education and Vocational Training of the Ministry of Education, said.

According to Worldskills Russia CEO Robert Urazov, these solutions will improve teaching methods used in educational organizations.

The contest includes 9 nominations to identify solutions, in particular, dual training, college-based industrial companies and the creation of production enterprises based on colleges, and NTI-focused training:

"On-the-Job Training" (practices related to on-the-job training methods)
"The College-Factory Model" (creation of competitive production and the first workplace on the basis of an educational organization for graduates)
"Online Learning" (practices for online educational programs, including interregional ones)
"Personnel for Business" (practices related to ensuring the employment of students based on the needs of employers)
"Digitalization Trend" (the use of digital technology to achieve and acquire learning outcomes)
"Innovative Teaching Methods" (advanced learning strategies and methodologies, e.g., practices related to new methods introduced by teaching staff)
"NTI End-to-End Technology Training" (practices related to the development and implementation of educational programs related to NTI's end-to-end technology)
"Social Practice" (community service to meet social challenges, including NGO relations)
"Cooperation" (best practices of interaction between educational organizations of higher education and professional educational organizations).

"Based on the results of the selection, we plan to develop a map of educational opportunities in the regions, i.e., a tool for interaction between business, investors and education on personnel training, and best practices for the educational trajectories of applicants and established professionals," 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 winners will be announced on August 24, 2021. The winners will present their practices at the ASI expert sessions and be awarded access to the NTI 2035 University training courses.