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- Learning into the world: the State Duma proposed to increase funding for additional education
Learning into the world: the State Duma proposed to increase funding for additional education
The State Duma proposed to expand the program of personalized financing of additional education by connecting all regions of the Russian Federation to it, as well as to increase the share of budget expenditures in this area. It is expected that the implementation of the proposed measures will ensure uniform access to additional education, improving the quality of educational services. The implementation of the initiative will require careful preparation of the infrastructure and the availability of a sufficient number of qualified specialists, experts warn. Whether there is a need for additional financing is in the Izvestia article.
Social justice
In early July, the Cabinet of Ministers approved an action plan for the implementation of stage II of the Concept for the development of additional education for children, designed for 2025-2030. In particular, the work started at the first stage continues to disseminate the target model for the development of additional education in the regions. It involves the transition to personalized financing.
The program of personalized Financing of Additional education (PFDO) allows you to pay for extracurricular activities for children from 5 to 17 years old at the expense of the state using a special electronic certificate. It provides access to a personal account, funds from which can be spent on paying for concluded training contracts. You cannot cash out, change, or sell the certificate.
As part of the second stage of the implementation of the Concept for the Development of Additional Education for Children, the Government plans to provide social certificates to at least 30% of children in each region annually.
Today, the EITI program operates in 72 regions of Russia. Yana Lantratova, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on the Development of Civil Society, Public and Religious Associations, and first deputy head of the Fair Russia For Truth faction, suggests extending it to all regions of the country as soon as possible.
A letter with a corresponding initiative was sent to the Minister of Education Sergey Kravtsov. It indicates that the share of spending on additional education in the budget decreased from 2% in 2022-2023 to 1.02% in 2025. Lantratova suggests increasing it to the level of 17-20%.
The document notes that the need to pay extra forces parents to give up additional classes, which "has a particularly negative impact on children from large and low-income families," and therefore it is necessary to reorient parents to use specialized additional education organizations through the expansion of EEF educational programs, providing full coverage of the costs of educational programs for large and poor families.
At the same time, it is important to provide for the right of administrations of educational organizations to assist in obtaining certificates and selecting educational programs for difficult adolescents and children from disadvantaged families.
It is expected that the implementation of the proposed measures will ensure equal access to additional education for children from all regions and all families, improve the quality of educational services and increase enrollment by increasing funding.
The editorial board of Izvestia sent requests to the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation and the Fair Russia — For Truth party. No responses had been received at the time of publication.
Individual approach
The program of personalized financing of additional education is a system of state support aimed at ensuring the availability of high—quality additional education for children, explains Oleg Baksansky, Professor of the Department of Educational Psychology at the Institute of Pedagogy and Psychology at Moscow State University. It is implemented by providing families with certificates for the education of a child, regardless of the form of ownership of the educational organization.
— The main purpose of the program is to provide an opportunity to choose educational services based on the needs of the family and the abilities of the child, — says the expert.
Additional education expands the variability of the educational system, gives children the opportunity to study what they are interested in, hone certain skills, communicate with peers and try themselves in different fields of activity, lists Olga Nemirovich, head of educational programs at the Skolkovo Education Transformation Center.
The PFDO program has already proved successful in the pilot regions, recalls Vadim Kovrigin, associate professor at the Institute of Economics, Management and Law of the Moscow State Pedagogical University. Its main advantage is the ability to finance education in a targeted manner based on the needs of children.
The expansion of the program to the entire territory of Russia will increase the coverage of the population with high-quality additional education, Baksansky believes.
"This will create equal conditions for all families, regardless of their region of residence, and provide children with the opportunity to develop in various directions," he believes.
However, expansion requires careful preparation of the infrastructure and the availability of a sufficient number of qualified specialists, the expert warns. It is important to take into account the specifics of each region: population density, accessibility of educational institutions and the level of development of the field of additional education.
However, the infrastructure for this is almost ready, says Irina Abankina, professor at the HSE Institute of Education. In many regions, the private sector is actively involved in the process.
— Many individual entrepreneurs today consider entrepreneurship in the field of education as an investment-attractive business. Because there is a demand, and there is an opportunity to develop high—quality interesting programs," the Izvestia interlocutor notes.
Personalized financing creates real competition in the segment of additional education and leads to quality improvement, she emphasizes.
— Organizations receive funding for the actual number of children attending them, not for planned targets. If there is demand, there are resources: logistical support, infrastructure support and human resources. In order to remain competitive, organizations need to create in—demand programs, update the content of existing ones and focus on the formation of a harmoniously developed, patriotic and socially responsible personality," adds Olga Nemirovich.
The money issue
The increase in funding will expand the range of educational services offered and attract more children to classes, admits Oleg Baksansky. Among the main advantages, he highlights the improvement of the quality of educational programs, the development of the infrastructure of educational organizations, the attraction of highly qualified teachers and the possibility of expanding the range of areas of study.
"It also contributes to the development of the regional economy, as additional education generates competencies that are in demand by the labor market," the expert emphasizes.
The regions today, however, are in a situation of budget deficit. Many of them still have high accounts payable, and for them, the main focus is on supporting the network of institutions of additional education and the stability of their financing from the budget, since this is linked to the sustainability of the functioning of institutions of additional education, Irina Abankina is convinced.
The increase in funding will lead to an additional burden on regional budgets, Baksansky warns. There are several ways to compensate for this load. The first of these is federal support, which provides for the allocation of additional funds by the state for the implementation of the program.
The second option is cost optimization. Effective organization of the process of issuing certificates and control over the use of funds will reduce costs, the Izvestia interlocutor clarifies.
"Thus, although the increase in funding will put an additional burden on regional budgets, it has the potential to significantly improve the situation with the availability and quality of additional education, which will have a positive impact on the development of human capital and economic growth in the regions," the source said.
Increasing funding and extending the program to all regions will provide an opportunity to expand the educational opportunities of children, Vadim Kovrigin believes.
"Additional education in this form of financing is an excellent tool for socializing the younger generation and preventing antisocial behavior," he concludes.
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