On October 11, SSU hosted a meeting of the Council of the All-Russian Educational Trade Union of Volga Federal District. It was attended by employees of the organisation from Samara, Orenburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Kirov, Kazan, Saransk, and other cities. The delegation was headed by Chair of the Saratov Regional Organisation of the Russian Professional Union of Workers of Public Education and Science Nikolai Timofeyev.

The participants were met by Chair of the Rectors’ Union of Saratov Region, SSU Rector Aleksei Chumachenko. They discussed the training of teaching staff at universities.

The discussion was attended by Chair of the regional branch of the Pedagogical Society of Russia, SSU Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs Igor Malinskii, SSU Head of Priority Projects and Programmes Elena Yelina, Deputy Chair of the regional organisation of the All-Russian Educational Trade Union Galina Popova, Chair of the SSU Trade Union Svetlana Dubrovskaya, Chair of the SSU Students Trade Union Victoria Bannikova, and the chairs of regional organisations of the All-Russian Education Trade Union of Volga Federal District.

Nikolai Timofeyev noted the importance and necessity of cooperation as part of a trilateral agreement between SSU, the trade union, and the regional Ministry of Education to manage the teaching staff shortage.

In his opening speech, Aleksei Chumachenko said that Saratov State University had always prepared teaching staff. ‘At the moment, 14 out of 20 SSU educational units are training personnel to work at school. In the early 1990s, there was a low competition of applicants for pedagogical courses, but after 2010, the number of applicants for them has been constantly increasing. We train teachers who then work at schools – this is our concern for the region. However, there are also problematic points faced by universities across the country. We need to work it out.’

Head of Priority Projects and Programmes Elena Yelina shared her experience in training teachers, presenting a report on SSU teachers projects. Saratov State University is included in the Priority 2030 programme, due to which the Teachers in the Educational Paradigm strategic project has been implemented at SSU for the third year.

‘SSU was the only classical university that ventured to submit a pedagogical project among the five stratprojects. It seems to us that we have succeeded – then we were supported by the Russian Minister of Science and Higher Education. Our idea was not born out of the blue. Many years ago, we realised that good lectures alone are not enough. It is necessary to motivate students to work as teachers,’ explained Elena Yelina.

Saratov State University has a research potential to implement pedagogical projects – over 60% of doctors of sciences and 90% of candidates of sciences conduct lessons in bachelor's, master's and postgraduate teaching courses for 5.5 thousand students. SSU has a dissertation council on pedagogy.

Over the past 15 years, the university has achieved a lot in pedagogical education – for the first time in the country, corporate departments have been created in schools, the Week of Pedagogical Education research-to-education festival has been held for 10 years, the Step into the Profession contest has been held for 19 years, the Constellation summer school for talented children opens every summer.

As part of the Priority 2030 programme, young teachers meet every month in the CONSILIUM Support Centre for Young Teachers and take part in lectures and master classes by leading SSU professors. The Summer School for Young Teachers has been successfully held at the university for two years in a row. In 2021, the university opened the Virtual Pedagogical Classroom, where classes from the best teaching staff of the university are held for high school students. In the third cohort, more than 500 children have signed up to participate in the project, including about 100 schoolchildren from the People's Republic of Luhansk.

This year, SSU and the regional Ministry of Education have organised the first regional pedagogical olympiad for schoolchildren, according to the results of which the prize-winners have received four additional points for admission to the pedagogical courses.

‘Thanks to the Priority 2030, we have begun to build the continuous system of teacher training from school and university to the first working experience in educational institutions. The university motivate teachers-to-be and young professionals – career guidance is carried out for students and young teachers all the studies,’ Elena Yelina conclude and invited schoolchildren from the regions of the Volga Federal District to participate in the SSU Pedagogical Classroom online.

The participants asked her questions and discussed the experience of training future teachers in their regions.

At the seminar-meeting, there were noted the professional achievements and awards of SSU teaching staff and graduates. Also, its members discussed the organisation of trips to neighbouring regions for the exchange of experience with colleagues. The participants of the meeting summed up that further development of the personnel potential of the region depended on close cooperation between the university and the trade union.

Guided tours around the university campus and the SSU History Museum were organised for the guests.