The Director of the Centre for Pre-University Projects spoke at the Forum on Agricultural Technology Education
From 29 to 30 June, the All-Russian Forum on Agricultural Technology Education took place in Moscow at the Timiryazev Centre educational and exhibition complex. The event brought together more than 300 participants from across the country. The key theme of the forum was the creation of a talent pool for the national agro-industrial complex (AIC) through the development of a network of specialised agricultural technology classes.
The director of the Centre for Pre-university Projects, E.N. Gashenko, represented KSTU at the forum. As part of the section dedicated to the organisation of specialised summer training shifts, Elena Nikolaevna acted as a speaker and presented a report on the experience of running agricultural training sessions.
As noted in her speech, the Kaliningrad Region is actively involved in the implementation of the federal project Human Resources in the AIC. Currently, 59 agricultural technology classes have been established across 15 municipalities in the region, attended by over 1,000 school pupils. KSTU is the project’s academic partner: university lecturers run masterclasses and intensive training courses for school pupils, whilst schoolteachers undertake professional development at the university’s laboratory complex.
The first agricultural training session took place in August 2025 and brought together 100 school pupils aged between 14 and 17. Over the course of five days, under the guidance of tutors and experts from KSTU and partner companies, participants developed business projects in the fields of crop production, animal husbandry, aquaculture and product processing and tackled practical cases provided by industrial partners. The programme included career guidance games, quest activities, meetings with entrepreneurs and a hackathon focusing on digital solutions for the AIC. The winner of the project competition was a team with a project on growing hops and producing a new drink – khlemonade.
In 2026, two agricultural sessions are planned—in August and September—in which over 200 school pupils will participate, including a special session for pupils in agricultural technology classes.
As a result, the forum identified key long-term objectives, including increasing the share of graduates from specialised agricultural classes enrolling in agricultural degree programmes to 70% by 2030.
The director of the Centre for Pre-university Projects, E.N. Gashenko, represented KSTU at the forum. As part of the section dedicated to the organisation of specialised summer training shifts, Elena Nikolaevna acted as a speaker and presented a report on the experience of running agricultural training sessions.
As noted in her speech, the Kaliningrad Region is actively involved in the implementation of the federal project Human Resources in the AIC. Currently, 59 agricultural technology classes have been established across 15 municipalities in the region, attended by over 1,000 school pupils. KSTU is the project’s academic partner: university lecturers run masterclasses and intensive training courses for school pupils, whilst schoolteachers undertake professional development at the university’s laboratory complex.
The first agricultural training session took place in August 2025 and brought together 100 school pupils aged between 14 and 17. Over the course of five days, under the guidance of tutors and experts from KSTU and partner companies, participants developed business projects in the fields of crop production, animal husbandry, aquaculture and product processing and tackled practical cases provided by industrial partners. The programme included career guidance games, quest activities, meetings with entrepreneurs and a hackathon focusing on digital solutions for the AIC. The winner of the project competition was a team with a project on growing hops and producing a new drink – khlemonade.
In 2026, two agricultural sessions are planned—in August and September—in which over 200 school pupils will participate, including a special session for pupils in agricultural technology classes.
As a result, the forum identified key long-term objectives, including increasing the share of graduates from specialised agricultural classes enrolling in agricultural degree programmes to 70% by 2030.
