Over 200 people in Tatarstan win grants within government-sponsored Algarysh programme

A total of 222 people had in 2014 received scholarships within the Tatarstan government-sponsored Algarysh programme, Tatarstan First Deputy Education Minister Andrei Pominov told a briefing at the Cabinet of Ministers.

The speaker recalled that Algarysh had operated since 2006, over which time 3,137 people had won in it. The list includes undergraduates, postgraduates, young scientists, faculty members, teachers of English, comprehensive educational establishment staff, project groups, ICT specialists and higher vocational schools.

“The last nomination implies a back flow, meaning that, for the first time in this grant programme, we do not send specialists somewhere but invite foreign specialists to our leading educational establishments,” Pominov explained.

He reported the main changes to Algarysh programme this year.

“The Partner Programme section has been eliminated and replaced with a Young Specialists section. This allows a large number of people to use the programme, with all opportunities offered within Partner Programmes being intact,” he explained.

A new section, Double Diplomas, has been included. It implies implementing educational programmes in cooperation with one or several higher schools. “A graduate is supposed to receive diplomas from two educational institutions, Russian and foreign,” Pominov noted.

An interactive database has been developed and put into operation in a test mode. The system’s main task is automated collection, processing and storage of data related to Algarysh programme’s participants, aimed to monitor and control grantees fulfilling the agreement and to form a databank on graduates’ careers.

The speaker went on to tell about a federal Global Education programme. “Yesterday, it became possible to file applications for studying abroad. The Global Education programme is nearly 80 percent identical to Algarysh. When it was launched, the developers consulted with Tatarstanians a lot,” Pominov stressed.

The programme aims to preserve and multiply scientific, teaching, medical and engineering staff, as well as social work management, to support Russian citizens who enter foreign educational establishments independently, and to help with future job placement.