Technical image: how will natural science education change in Russia

School graduates who plan to study in technical specialties primarily choose IT-related fields rather than classical engineering faculties, said Dmitry Livanov, Rector of MIPT, at the All-Russian Forum of Teachers of Natural Science Subjects. In addition, according to him, there are still "not enough" applicants who take these subjects at a profile level higher than 60 points. Minister of Education Sergey Kravtsov assured that the interest of schoolchildren in natural science disciplines is growing: now about 800 thousand students are studying them in depth - 41% more than in the previous academic year. How they proposed to popularize natural science fields is in the Izvestia article.

Few future engineers

There are still not enough school graduates in Russia who pass specialized mathematics and physics by more than 60 points, said Dmitry Livanov, Rector of MIPT, at the plenary session of the All-Russian Forum of Teachers of Natural Science Subjects.

"The technological development of the country is impossible without a qualitative improvement in the level of schools and educational institutions for the training of engineers," he said. — The main thing that causes concern today and what we are working on is that students who study and choose subjects of the natural science cycle in grades 10-11 are not enough.

He recalled that in 2018-2019, about 130,000 high school students took the physics exam annually, but over the past 6-7 years, their number has dropped to 80,000. It was only in 2025 that the trend was reversed for the first time: the number of exam takers in these areas increased.

— This year, more than 90 thousand students have chosen the physics exam, but you and I understand that we have not even reached the level of 2018-2019 yet. We understand that we need to move forward very seriously," Dmitry Livanov said.

Back in 2022, Vladimir Putin, speaking at the Council for Strategic Development and National Projects, stated: Russia lacks qualified engineers, and the resources of the Soviet period have long been exhausted. And in February 2025, the President of Russia, at a meeting of the Council for Science and Education (which was devoted to the issues of providing priority areas of scientific and technological development with engineering personnel), said: "The goal is very specific: in the field of technological development, Russia must be competitive in key areas."

"To do this, we need specialists who are able to generate unique solutions, including for new, emerging industries, who are ready to use advanced design and construction methods," he said and called for a constant exchange of the most effective practices. — First of all, we are talking about steps to create a unified, end—to-end system for training technical personnel - from school to university.

At the same time, the President stressed that the necessary knowledge base of mathematics and natural sciences is being formed at school, and already in grades 5-9. He added that nowadays students often lose interest in natural science subjects at the very beginning of their studies, and suggested that one of the reasons is the content of the primary and secondary school programs. The President also noted that over the past five years, the number of EXAM participants choosing specialized mathematics and physics has been decreasing.

— The number of exam takers in computer science has increased. This is true, by about 8%, but the reduction in passing grades in mathematics and physics was about 14%. That is, somewhere between eight and 14, there are still losses for mathematics, physics, for these sciences, it is still more, it has gone somewhere, this difference. That's something to keep in mind," he said.

As Dmitry Livanov stated at the forum, current schoolchildren are not motivated enough to master an engineering specialty, including in the family. According to him, children and their parents see a successful picture in the field of IT and lose sight of engineering.

— Therefore, it is important to create the right public image and motivate salary expectations, — said the rector of MIPT.

Nevertheless, until recently, in order to enroll in an engineering specialty, it was enough to pass specialized mathematics and computer science, HSE Professor Irina Abankina reminded Izvestia. But two years ago, physics was made a compulsory subject for such faculties, and the number of graduates taking the profile exam has increased. In addition, there are also more places for engineering specialties.

— That's why the guys are trying to pass their core subject, and, on the one hand, we have increased the scale of training, but on the other hand, more graduates with weak grades have begun to arrive, — she confirmed. — And the guys who enrolled in engineering with low scores often do not finish their studies. There are a lot of deductions — more than 30% after the first and second courses of engineering and technical specialties. Their level of training is insufficient to complete their studies in the chosen fields.

And Yulia Uzhakina, General Director of the Rosatom Corporate Academy, said that if current schoolchildren do not come to work at Rosatom, Roscosmos, Rostec, or an IT company in the future, this will affect the technological development of the country.

— We will not have space communications, we will not have nuclear energy. Rosatom, for example, is responsible for creating a quantum computer in the Russian Federation. In addition, we need to make the Northern Sea Route definitively ours by 2030. We need to increase nuclear generation in our country by up to 25%," she stressed.

The expert cited the example of the 1950s and 1960s, which saw a boom in the engineering profession.

— Because the country needed to be rebuilt. And now the historical moment is really very similar," she said.

Yulia Uzhakina said that it is extremely important for any company to hire young specialists — they inspire breakthrough ideas. According to her, the industry needs at least 30% of young personnel, and the labor market now can offer no more than 20%.

"We have a great need for graduates," she said.

How natural science education is changing

Opening the forum, Minister of Education Sergey Kravtsov noted that the development of engineering education is one of the priorities.

"On behalf of the President of Russia, we have completed the formation of a unified educational space, and unified federal programs have been approved, according to which all schools operate," he said. — A comprehensive action plan has been adopted to improve the quality of mathematical and natural science education, and the content of education and teaching methods are being improved. We see that the guys are interested in natural science subjects.

According to him, in the 2024/25 academic year, 800,000 schoolchildren are studying advanced-level programs, an increase of 41% compared to the previous academic year. And in colleges, 54% of students are enrolled in engineering and natural science programs.

Since the previous academic year, there has been an increase in the number of participants choosing natural science subjects for the Unified State Exam, Sergey Kravtsov said. Thus, 8.6% more graduates chose physics, 5.9% more chemistry, and 5.3% more biology.

— The preparation of state textbooks on natural science subjects continues. This work is being carried out jointly with the Russian Academy of Sciences," the minister said. — The task is to synchronize courses in mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, and form interdisciplinary connections.

Olga Koludarova, Deputy Minister of Education, recalled that the comprehensive plan for improving the quality of mathematical and natural science education for the period up to 2030 provides for the inclusion of these disciplines in the list of compulsory admission to universities in pedagogical areas, the development of targeted training, as well as the development of unified approaches to the remuneration system for teaching staff.

"It is also planned to provide annual professional development for 35,000 science teachers," she said.

210,000 teachers will be trained by 2030, she added. In addition, it is planned to build 12 advanced educational institutions, which will provide in-depth study of mathematics, computer science and natural science subjects.