Learning account: Moscow increases funding for every student

In 2025, the Moscow authorities will significantly increase funding for city schools. So, for each pupil of grades 1-4, 171 thousand rubles per year will now be allocated from the regional budget, which is 15.7% more than last year. For primary and high schools, the standard per pupil will be equalized, and it will amount to 197 thousand rubles annually. This was announced by Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin following a meeting of the presidium of the regional government. In addition, additional funds will be used to expand the mathematical and natural science education of students in grades one through six.: From September of this year, urban educational courses in mathematics, science and technology will be available in schools. About how education in schools and colleges in the capital will change very soon, see the Izvestia article.

According to a single standard

Moscow will increase education funding by 13%: an additional 46 billion rubles will be allocated from the city budget for these purposes. This was announced by Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin at a meeting of the presidium of the regional government. It discussed the priorities for the development of the education system in the capital for 2025.

As it was announced at the meeting, the results of students in high school, college and university largely depend on basic training in elementary school and grades 5-9.

— It is during this period that interest in learning is established, the talents and abilities of the child are revealed, — said the mayor. — Therefore, today it is important to pay the same attention to primary and secondary schools as to the senior school. This will be an important factor in the further growth of the quality of education in the capital and the success of students.

Therefore, according to the decision of the Moscow government, a single standard of funding for grades 5-11 is being introduced this year, increased to 197 thousand rubles per year for each student. Now in the capital there are separate per capita standards for the middle and senior level.

Thus, in the basic school (grades 5-9), funding for each student will increase by almost 20%, and for grades 10-11 — by 5.4%. At the same time, the same standard for primary schools (grades 1-4) will be increased by 15.7% to 171 thousand rubles per year.

Alexander Semennikov, chairman of the Moscow City Duma Commission on Education, noted that the decision is extremely important, as it "will make it possible to equalize the quality of education in all Moscow schools."

— We have already moved away from the situation when there were elite schools in the city, where everyone aspired to go, and parents tried to arrange their children there by any means, he said. — Today we strive to ensure that the quality of education in all schools in Moscow is equally high.

According to him, the years spent in grades 5-9 account for the main time of the formation of the child's personality and interests.

— And here it is important not just to spend, but to invest funds from the Moscow budget in our children, the future of the capital and the whole of Russia. The increase in this standard indicates an increasing attention to the field of education, higher requirements for teachers," the deputy said.

Science for schoolchildren

In addition, the Moscow authorities will allocate additional budget funds to expand the quality of students' education in mathematics and natural sciences. As noted at the meeting, this knowledge is the key to achieving the technological leadership of the capital. Therefore, starting from the new school year, urban training courses in mathematics, science and technology for grades 1-6 will be organized in schools.

— The students will solve creative tasks, developing logic, spatial and analytical thinking, — the press service of the Mayor's office reported. — In addition, there will be new city Olympiads, including experimental ones, for early identification of children's talents and their subsequent individual support.

In particular, in April 2026, at the "Ready for Life in a Smart City" Olympiad, students in grades 3-4 will demonstrate the skills they have acquired in additional classes.

As noted at the meeting, conducting classes at a more advanced level will require a higher level of teacher training. Starting from April 1, 2025, a new training system and special advanced training courses will be launched for them.

— Mathematics and natural sciences form the brain, logical and critical thinking, and create the foundation that children need to successfully master most educational programs and subjects in the future. Realizing this, for our part, this spring we are starting to form a system of training and advanced training for teachers of mathematics and natural sciences in order to pay more attention to these subjects," said Anastasia Rakova, Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Social Development.

In addition, over the past five years, the interest of the capital's schoolchildren in computer science has increased by 46%: 16 thousand people plan to take the exam in this subject this year. And for the first time in recent years, physics turned out to be among the leading elective subjects: more than 10 thousand graduates chose it.

Yefim Rachevsky, director of Tsaritsyno School No. 548, called the decision a vivid example of the strategic thinking of the city's leadership.

— Today there is an acute shortage of people who are equipped with knowledge in the field of exact sciences. By exact sciences, we usually mean computer science, mathematics, and physics, but in fact biology, chemistry, and other aspects of natural science, including astronomy, are in the same "basket," he said. — And there are no subjects of the natural science cycle as such, if you think in the subject category, in elementary school.

And Mikhail Sluch, director of the V.F. Ovchinnikov Secondary School Lyceum, noted that the main development of interest in exact sciences and its strengthening is the time of the fifth, sixth and seventh grades.

— At this point, mathematics turns from ordinary arithmetic into algebra, geometry appears, and, as a rule, schoolchildren completely lose interest in it or, conversely, are ready to continue studying. A teacher is very important here, he can do a lot to ensure that children continue to develop in mathematical and natural science fields," he said.Mathematics is not only a separate subject that teaches a child algorithmics, but also the basis for understanding natural science disciplines, said Anatoly Kasprzhak, professor at the Higher School of Economics.

— Today the country needs people who are engaged in high technologies, and this requires a deep study of physics and mathematics. We must strive for this, because the school teacher, in fact, fulfills the order. Today, this order is obvious: the study of natural sciences and mathematics is extremely important due to the reorientation of Russian industry, including Moscow," he said.

Professional learning trajectory

In addition, the number of budget college places for 9th grade graduates will be increased in the capital this year. The exact figure was not announced at the meeting, but it was noted that the 2024 admission campaign showed the growing interest of ninth graders in secondary vocational education: the allocated 16,000 additional target places were filled by 100%, and there were twice as many ninth graders as in the year before last, about 36,000 people.

— Among the most sought—after areas are information technology and programming, graphic design, cooking and confectionery, tourism and hospitality, the press service of the Mayor's office said. — The demand of applicants for specialties in finance and trade, education and the social sphere is growing.

More than 75% of vacancies in the Moscow labor market are aimed at specialists with secondary vocational education. In turn, 95% of city college students successfully find a job in the first year after graduation. Since 2023, the Moscow government has been modernizing the secondary vocational education system: educational programs are developed with the direct participation of employers and professional associations, students are immersed in the professional environment from the first year, and practical classes account for at least 70% of the total study time. City colleges have more than 3,000 potential employer partners.

In addition, an important area of modernization of secondary vocational education in Moscow is the large-scale re-equipment of colleges. More than 2,000 laboratories and workshops are planned to be retrofitted or rebuilt over the next few years.