As Russia
celebrates the start of the school year and the Day
of Knowledge, Vladimir Putin held the national open lesson Russia
Focused on the Future. The event took place during
a working trip to the Yaroslavl Region.
September
1, 2017
14:30
Yaroslavl
At the national
open lesson Russia Focused on the Future.
More
than 1 million schoolchildren around the country were expected
to watch the open lesson online. All participants in the lesson
watched videos about the large-scale innovative projects underway
in Russia, in particular, the Northern Sea Route transport
system’s development, new generation universal nuclear icebreakers,
a super-heavy class space launch centre, additive technology centres
and telemedicine projects.
*
* *
Opening
remarks at the national open lesson Russia Focused
on the Future
President
of Russia Vladimir Putin: Hello, friends,
Today’s
event is called an Open Lesson. This lesson implies following
a particular method and pursuing particular objectives. Today’s event
cannot be called a lesson in the traditional sense,
and I will therefore not attempt to stick
to a particular logic in my words.
This
event is taking place on the Day of Knowledge, the start
of the new school year. I therefore want to congratulate
on this wonderful occasion, the Day of Knowledge, everyone here
today and all the students, schoolchildren and teachers watching
us via various media channels.
Let
us not forget your parents either, especially the parents of children
who are just starting school this year and taking their first steps
on the road to knowledge. I congratulate them too.
We
opened 79 new schools in time for the new school year this year,
two of which, I think, are here in the Yaroslavl Region.
I thank Acting Governor Dmitry Mironov for keeping his promise
to the people and seeing the project’s completion
by the end of the year. A total 170 schools will open
by the end of the year, and this is
the authorities’ contribution – and not their sole
contribution – to developing education.
But
I want to begin with something else. We watched the video just
now and saw what our country has achieved over these last years.
I flatter
myself with the thought that I could have shared some interesting
news and information on our recent history, the principles
underpinning our economic and social development today,
and international relations with those present here or watching on screen
and at your computers. These issues are all the subject
of special meetings and work.
But
today is not the time and place for this. As I said,
today is a holiday. Nonetheless, taking the video we just watched
on our country’s achievements as a departure point, I want
to say that it demonstrated our latest advances in different areas.
I was
speaking with Governor Mironov on the way here before, and he
said, “Look, there’s the Assumption Cathedral, built in honour
of Yaroslavl’s 1000th anniversary”. Yaroslavl alone is
more than 1,000 years old, and our country has been in existence
for far longer than this. Why am I saying this?
If
you look around, you realise that not all countries and peoples have
withstood this test of time, have lived, developed, overcome difficulties
and grown stronger for more than 1,000 years.
Over
this 1,000 years, our ancestors, the generations that went before us have
made tremendous efforts to make our country the strong
and powerful state that it is today. They crossed it all the way
to the Pacific Ocean and attained great achievements
in science, technology and education.
All
future generations, and this is a cliché you have heard many times,
always surpass the previous ones, and achieve more. This is true.
This is only natural, because new generations build on the foundation
created by their predecessors.
Knowledge
has become wider and deeper; technology has become more sophisticated
and exciting, creating opportunities to take another step forward.
However, your goal is not just to do something new. That goes without
saying. It will, indeed, be something new based on what was created
earlier. Your goal is to take a new step forward.
But
life is complicated, as they say. It is always complicated when it comes
to competition. Competition is always strong and even fierce, but
look at how fast the world is developing today. We say, ”Our country
is big, powerful, and great.“
This
is true, this is how things are, indeed. But look at how the world is
developing. There are countries which are incomparably larger than our country
in terms of population. There are countries where technology
and modern administrative tools are much more effective than ours.
Hence,
the question: if we have existed for over 1,000 years now,
and are actively developing and growing stronger, that means that we
have something that is helping us do so. This something is our internal
”nuclear reactor,“ which propels us. This passionarity, which Gumilev spoke
about in his own time, keeps pushing our country forward.
You,
who are now entering active life, need to bear this in mind, be aware
of it and not just do better than previous generations, but do better
on a new level, and not only in comparison with what was
done in our country, but in comparison with our competitors all over
the world. I am not talking about enemies of every stripe. Now
is not the time to talk about sad things. I am referring
to competitors, and the competition is always strong.
We
have another overused phrase about how we did no worse than someone else. We
should always do better precisely because of the circumstances that
I just mentioned. There are countries with larger populations
and with more advanced technology and administrative tools.
For us to be able to maintain our sovereignty, and to make
the lives of our people and future generations, your children
and grandchildren, better than today, it is imperative to make
qualitatively new advances.
That
is why the step you are taking today – choosing your profession
and your path in life – is so important for you. You saw
them on the screen. I will not go over them again. They are very
exciting, modern, and promising.
They
include space exploration, innovative energy sources, transport, biology,
and cognitive science. They are about the synergy of various
areas of knowledge and technology that produce the maximum
effect, nature-like technologies, and so on. Medicine and education,
too, by the way. You have to choose your own path.
You
will repeatedly – practically all your life – be faced with
a problem of choice. A person always makes a choice if he
feels he wants to live and do, to derive satisfaction
and pleasure from life and offer up the results of his
labour to the altar of the Fatherland and share them
with other people. In fact, this is generally the highest
satisfaction you can derive from your work.
I hope
very much that you will be able to make this choice without delay.
The earlier you make it the better, the more time you will have
to make improvements, polish up something, consult somebody and make
adjustments. As a rule, life today requires narrow specialisation
and to achieve this it is necessary to think this over
and get to the bottom of the problem that you would
like to devote your lives to solving.
I would
like to sincerely wish you success. I would like to wish success
to your teachers. I am very pleased that such a unique event,
without exaggeration, as the choice of an occupation
by senior-level students is being held in Yaroslavl
for the fifth time. Naturally, our major companies should be involved
in this by all means.
I was
very pleased to note that many people whom I have known
for a long time and appreciate are today here in Yaroslavl.
They are taking part in this joint work; the first contracts are
being signed, in this case with students who also took part in this
event in Yaroslavl.
I would
like to wish success to all of you. I am hoping that
in the near future we will see what you produce and that you
will be content with how you live and what you do and be proud of your
achievements.
To see
where we need to go and how we should develop, the Ministry
of Education organises an essay project every year. I suggest
writing essays on the theme “Russia Focused on the Future!”
to see what you think our country will be like on the threshold
of the 2040s and 2050s.
All
the best to you!
See
also
September
1, 2017
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