IT Classes in Secondary Schools Gain Popularity across Russia

The number of students in IT classes in Moscow has tripled, according to the Deputy for Social Development Rakova. She said that high school students in the capital have an opportunity to master the professions of the future in IT while being at school. Since the last academic year, pre-professional IT classes have been launched. The educational program is designed for 2 years.

Information technology becomes popular among Moscow schoolchildren. In 2020, the number of those wishing to enter a new direction of pre-vocational education broke all records. More than 6500 young people took part in testing. The total number of students in the IT classes has become three times higher. Almost three thousand children study there.

The number of schools participating in the project has doubled. 67 educational organizations participate in it. Implementation of the project allows for creating conditions for the development of education in the field of information technology, helps senior students make an informed choice of their future profession, whereas universities and IT companies form a platform for training of competent and demanded workers in the city.

Training in the IT classes takes place in six areas: 'Big Data Analysis', "Robotics", 'Communication Technologies', 'Modeling and Prototyping', 'Information Security', and 'Programming'.

The project is implemented jointly with a support of 9 universities that lead the training of the IT specialists: (1) St. Petersburg National Research University ITMO; (2) Moscow State Pedagogical University; (3) Bauman Moscow State Technical University; (4) Higher School of Economics; (5) Moscow Engineering Physics Institute; (6) Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology; (7) Moscow State Technological University; (8) Moscow Polytechnic University; (9) Russian Technological University.

The young and ambitious IT students take part in various activities organized by the project partners. During the academic year, the children attend various master classes, excursions, lectures, and seminars. The representatives of the companies tell students about the latest technologies, IT development,  and exemplify how the city improves the quality of life with IT technologies.