Anna Maeva, Advisor at VTB Bank, and member of the Project Office of the Graduate School of Management, St. Petersburg University (GSOM SPbU), has participated in the round table “School — University — Enterprise: a new model”. The round table is organized in the Startup Village 2021 Skolkovo on the platform of Scientific and Technological Center PМС.

The participants discussed the challenges that society and the education system faces now due to the pandemic of COVID-19. In their opinion, school is not only a basis for higher education but also is the beginning of your career and professional development. That is why educational programs should react to new needs quickly and organize the education process collectively between universities and different economic sectors. Also, the practices of harmonization of secondary and university education, personification of studies, and, most importantly, the principles of building an effective chain from the start of the educational process to getting a job, were the topics to discuss.

In addition to Anna Maeva, the following persons exchanged their opinions on these topics: the Head of the Support Service of the Skolkovo Valeria Gymnasium, the Director of the School of Advanced Studies (SAS) of the Tyumen State University Andrey Shcherbenok, the Vice-Rector for Talent Management, the Director of the Department of Special Projects of the “Synergy” University Roman Sultanov, and the Executive Head of the Corporate University TMK2U , PJSC "PMC" Maria Vorsina. The facilitator of the round table was Anastasia Mikheeva, Deputy Director of the Skolkovo Gymnasium for the Support of the Educational Process and the Head of the Gymnasium's Career Center.

According to Anna Mayeva`s speech, one of the most interesting topics of the conversation was the question of the skills necessary for a pupil, student, and subsequently for an employee. She noted: “The ability to independently manage your learning is important. For schoolchildren, this is curiosity that flows into constructive curiosity, when a student, on his own initiative, and not under pressure from parents or teachers, is looking for new knowledge. This skill is important, though it is on a different scale, for a university student. After all, the university is not able to satisfy all employers' requests — they are very different. But what the university should definitely teach its coming alumni is the ability to determine what knowledge is needed and where to look for it, in order to constantly build their competencies. In full accordance with the concept of lifelong learning, which is recorded in the development Strategy of GSOM SPbU until 2025 ”.

An interesting aspect, that was also raised in the discussion, is the degree of relevance of career guidance at school. The participants of the conversation emphasized that schoolchildren today are choosing not so much a specific professional profile as the area of ​​application of their future efforts — in a broader sense. Without limiting their starting aspirations to a narrow specification, they are also moving in the mainstream of the concept of lifelong learning. They have a lot to develop. However, it is obvious that the university should play a large role in the movement along a certain educational direction - or trajectory. One cannot do without vocational guidance during the implementation of these trajectories.

“Most of the participants in the conversation agreed that students and parents are in pursuit of a certain educational environment both at school and at the university. For example, for GSOM SPbU it is an international educational environment, organized according to the most exceptional international standards - and existing here in Russia,. in which participation in the training process of leading Russian employers is integrated, - The need for such practice, by the way, was also discussed at the round table”, — Anna Maeva explained.

“It was interesting to hear that colleagues ask themselves about the same problems as we do. This means that we correctly emphasize and understand for ourselves the issues that are important to the entire national education”, — she noted.