In Tatarstan, by 2022, a network of multi-lingual educational complexes will be created with learning three languages: Russian, Tatar and English. In total, it is planned to build 6 such facilities in the republic, two of which will be located in Kazan, one each in Naberezhnye Chelny, Almetyevsk, Nizhnekamsk and Elabuga.
Kazan and Yelabuga are at present ready to accept pupils. About how in a fairly short time it was possible to erect a modern building and what disciplines will be taught, what kind of education will be conducted in the polylingual educational complex “Adymnar – Alabuga”, our interview with director of the complex Sergey Konstantinovich Yezhov.
– The main event of the republican plenary meeting of education and science workers this year was its holding in the new polylingual school “Adymnar – Alabuga”. How many happy children will come to study on September 1 in this beautiful building?
– “Adymnar – Alabuga” is a whole complex, which consists of multilingual, bilingual schools and preschool education in the framework of network interaction with preschool educational institutions No. 39 and 40 of the city of Elabuga. It is designed for 1224 pupils. This academic year, 41 class-set for 1017 pupils have been created: of them – 21-class-set in primary school and 20 class-set in basic school. 181 children were admitted to the first grade.
– During the August meeting, the speakers raised one very important problem that worries many school principals: some of our young people leave the country in search of a better life in a foreign land. Among them there are those who wish to receive a modern pro-Western education with the acquisition of several languages. It is believed that the opening of schools of a new type, like “Adymnar – Alabuga”, will give our children the opportunity to receive education at the European level. How will it be arranged for you?
– If we talk about the conditions, then they really correspond to modern requirements. A comfortable environment has been created in the complex: these are open spaces filled with new content, a modernized assembly hall, a media center and a quantorium. Nowadays, the school pool will surprise no one. But for our Yelabuga to have two swimming pools at the school, in fact, is a luxury. One is for beginners and the other is for more experienced swimmers. So in our school, in addition to physical education teachers, there will be swimming coaches.
During a quick excursion before the start of the August meeting, you probably yourself had time to notice how everything is thought out here. On the ground floor of the educational complex there is an elementary school. Classrooms for the youngest pupils are equipped with modern equipment: interactive whiteboards, projectors. Classes are formed along two educational trajectories. The first is a polylingual trajectory. Children will be taught in Russian, Tatar and English. Basic subjects are taught in Russian. The Tatar language is studied as a mother tongue, English is studied according to an in-depth program. We plan to organize extracurricular activities in these three languages.
The second direction is a bilingual trajectory, according to which children are taught in Russian and Tatar languages. The teachers teach English in parallel. Here, organization of extracurricular activities will also be partially carried out in the Tatar language.
The fact that the builders quickly and efficiently erected new walls and created a super space pleases everyone: parents, children, and initiators of the opening of multilingual kits. But we, the pedagogical leadership, have one more joy: in a short time we were able to form a modern team with a modern outlook on life. Today, the average age of teachers is 36 years. We were not afraid to accept young specialists. We really hope for their creativity. At the same time, these eight young teachers have the opportunity to learn from their older colleagues’ experience and skills. 27 people – more than half of the total number of teachers – have the first and highest qualification categories.
We plan to carry out the educational process in the multilingual complex according to the CLIL method – subject-language integrated learning. Language acts not only as a subject of instruction. It becomes a means of teaching and forming a competent personality of a child, capable of active life in a multinational and multicultural environment.