Yaroslavl Region Announces New Education Mergers

Authorities of Yaroslavl Region have reported on new mergers in the education sector.

Children«s Centers

The first is the merger of the Center for Children and Youth, the Center for Children and Youth Technical Creativity, and the Center for Children and Youth Tourism and Excursions into a single Center for Children and Youth of Yaroslavl.

«This will help expand the range of additional general education programs taking into account the age, individual abilities and interests of children, and will contribute to the development of network formats. Special attention will be paid to creating conditions for attracting middle and high school students (13 – 18 years old) to children»s associations and groups of the center. All areas of work and programs currently used for training will be preserved,« explained Irina Loboda, Minister of Education of Yaroslavl Region.

Center for Children and Youth of Yaroslavl Region (commonly known as the Palace of Pioneers) is located on Dzerzhinsky Avenue. Various clubs, sections, and creative associations operate here. Center for Children and Youth Technical Creativity of Yaroslavl Region is located on Republican Street. Here, children can receive additional education primarily with a technical focus. Center for Children and Youth Tourism and Excursions in Skvoznoy Lane in Yaroslavl provides training in additional general education programs in tourism-local history, physical education-sports, natural science, and socio-pedagogical directions.

Also, the Center for Assistance to Children and the Center for Career Guidance and Psychological Support «Resource» will be merged. After the merger, these institutions will become a single Center for Assistance to Children «Resource,» which will continue to work in the same areas.

Center for Assistance to Children is located on Nekrasov Street in Yaroslavl. It provides methodological assistance to educational organizations, ensures the functioning of a unified electronic information and educational environment for general education institutions implementing educational programs using e-learning and distance education technologies, and conducts events within the framework of psychological and pedagogical activities. Correctional classes for children are also held here, and a parent support service is organized. Center for Career Guidance and Psychological Support «Resource» on Lenin Avenue in Yaroslavl deals with career guidance work.

In addition, the regional educational center «New School» and the children«s camp – social and health center »Chaika« will be merged. According to the authorities, their merger will open up new opportunities for conducting specialized and thematic shifts. Moreover, the multifunctionality of the camp will allow expanding the range of recipients of summer recreation services.

«New School» is a regional center for identifying, supporting, and developing the abilities and talents of children and youth. It deals with olympiad preparation for schoolchildren, development and implementation of innovative educational projects, etc. The social and health center «Chaika» is engaged in creating conditions and ensuring full-fledged rest for children and families with minor children.

«The consolidation of material and human resources will allow for the effective solution of educational, administrative, and managerial tasks, and will strengthen the pedagogical potential of the institution. The changes will only affect administrative and managerial and other personnel – the teaching staff will be preserved,» emphasized the regional government.

Boarding Schools

Boarding schools will also undergo optimization.

A new association will appear – boarding school No. 1, which will include the Yaroslavl boarding school named after E.N. Makshantseva, Yaroslavl boarding school No. 6, Yaroslavl boarding school No. 7, Yaroslavl school No. 38, and Yaroslavl school No. 45.

Boarding school No. 3 will unite the Gavrilov-Yam boarding school, Petrovskaya boarding school, Pereslavl-Zalessky boarding school No. 3, and Pereslavl-Zalessky boarding school No. 4.

«Considering the correctional orientation of these educational organizations, the key task was to preserve both the contingent of students and the teaching staff, so the education of children with disabilities will continue in full. Continuity of the quality of education, programs and teaching methods will be ensured, including taking into account the individual characteristics of students. The implementation of adapted general education programs, in particular, home-based education, supervision and care, including for children with disabilities, and the maintenance of children will also continue in the same volume,» commented the authorities.

Institute of Education Development

Changes will also affect institutions related to the control and development of education.

Two institutions will be attached to the Institute of Education Development – the Center for Assessment and Control of Education Quality and the Center for Telecommunications and Information Systems in Education.

Institute of Education Development is located in Yaroslavl and deals with additional professional education for teachers. The main areas of activity of the Center for Assessment and Control of Education Quality are organizational, technical, and information-analytical support for accreditation expertise during state accreditation, final certification for programs of basic general and secondary general education, certification of teaching staff, conducting sociological, monitoring, and analytical research in the field of education, and supporting the regional system of education quality assessment. Center for Telecommunications and Information Systems in Education is the main information hub of the regional educational network, uniting schools, professional educational organizations, centers of additional education, boarding schools, kindergartens, and other educational institutions of Yaroslavl and the region.

«Thus, a unified system of information-analytical, organizational, and scientific-methodological support is being created. The merger will allow for more effective support of key areas of educational activity: professional development of teachers, acquisition of new competencies by them, introduction of new educational technologies and resources, dissemination of best pedagogical practices, digitalization of the regional education system, support and accompaniment of educational organizations in maintaining websites and social networks, information security of minors, conduct of state final certification, monitoring and research of education quality,» commented the government of Yaroslavl Region.

Recall that it recently became known that in Yaroslavl, two colleges will be merged.