Vladimir Putin Greets Youth Essay Contest Winners; Stresses Traditional Family Values in Russia
Today, Vladimir Putin talked to high schoolers who became the best among 500,000 of their peers. Putin met the winners of the Essay Contest "Russia Committed to the Future". Why should one know the history of their country? What does Putin do when he doesn't know which syllable to stress? And why Bolsheviks were wrong when they wanted to cancel families? All that was discussed at the meeting.
Alexey Petrov with the details.
There are almost 30 high schoolers here who wrote the best essays in Russia. More than 400,000 students took part in the contest. The most popular topics were the preservation of the historical legacy and the fate of the small towns.
Vladimir Putin arrived to congratulate the winners. They discussed the topics the students highlighted in their essays. One of them is no child's issue: the future of the institution of the family. 100 years ago, the creators of the Marxist theory thought that families would cease to exist and children would be raised by a community dreaming of a new society.
Vladimir Putin: "Practice has shown that the absence of a loved one the absence of a mother or a father makes a young person defective because even though the idea that Marx, Engels, and then Lenin formulated might sound nice they forgot the essential part of the upbringing of a complete person — love. When children don't feel loved it's hard for them to feel confident. And confidence, not arrogance, but confidence is an essential aspect of personal development".
Many essays were devoted to the preservation of the Russian culture and language Standards are usually blurry. Of course, everyone makes mistakes but one must still pay attention to the rules of pronunciation.
A schoolgirl: "Mr. Putin, you're an example for us as the most literate person in the country with the best grammar".
Vladimir Putin: "It's very kind of you to say that. Actually, I regularly ask the Russian language experts in order to clarify some aspects. Sometimes, before a public speech I called them from my airplane and asked them which syllable I should stress".
The Contest was opened by the President at the Projectoria Forum on September 1, in Yaroslavl. It's a response to the initiative of the young activists that are willing to the future of the country into their own hands like this Crimean nine-grader Ivan Oleynik.
Ivan Oleynik: "Crimea has always been a part of Russia. It left Russia a couple of times but always returned to its haven. And if we weren’t a part of Russia I wouldn't be here".
Vladimir Putin: "Yes, you wouldn't be able to come here. That's true".
The Contest "Russia Committed to the Future" is an example of a consistent youth policy. Today, students have every opportunity to succeed. They aren't planning to work abroad like twenty years ago. That's why they are writing about their own country. For example, about finding a balance between urbanization and sustainable development.
Vladimir Putin: "Sometimes, in order to build a road we have to cut a grove down or there would be no road. No road means no development. But there's one rule we can and must implement. If we had to take something from nature for the sake of development we must recreate something similar nearby, or even something greater".
It's not just a conversation with the students. It's feedback: the government hears and listens to the youth. Besides, there are a lot of acute issues. Vocational training is one of those issues.
A schoolgirl: "I came to a construction site and asked for the youngest, cleanest, and most handsome worker. His name was Slava and he was nineteen".
Vladimir Putin: "The fact that you asked to introduce you to a young, strong, and interesting young man is not surprising, it's great.
Our previous manual labor training system is obsolete and can't be used today. We're trying to upgrade it. We've organized an extensive training system and started conducting National Manual Labor Contests since 2015. We also started participating in the international Manual Labor Contests. Our guys achieve amazing results. Simply amazing".
Teachers including the winner of the Teacher of the Year contest Ilya Demakov believe that committing one's thoughts to paper is especially important in the age of gadgets.
Ilya Demakov, winner of the Teacher of the Year 2017 contest: "It's a special way of language usage that occurs only on paper. Just a pen and a sheet of paper to express one's thoughts. These pure moments allow students to overstep the time and be with other people".
The winners received an excursion around Zaryadye — one of the most modern parks in Moscow. Many students visit Moscow for the first time and it's a great gift for them.
It's rather symbolic that in the Year of a Volunteer there are a lot of volunteers among the authors of the essays. The best essays were even published. This book might serve as a beacon for millions of students. Many winner-essays were devoted to studying and education. The new pace of life brings new standards and requirements.
Vladimir Putin: "We must always learn new things. It must be a standard. A life standard for every person. Many people get their degree with an average GPA celebrate, then forget about it. They remember the basics needed to get a job and forget about ever studying. If you want to be an expert in some field you must deepen your knowledge every day".
Vladimir Putin invited the winners to the Educational Center Sirius in Sochi. Perhaps, a visit to one of the best complexes in Russia will inspire the students to write new essays.
Alexey Petrov, Pyotr Rovnov Renat Goreev, and Alexander Malyshev Vesti