How can teachers in Tula receive an additional 20,000 rubles each month (~260 USD)? It's simple - become a winner of the "Teaching as a Calling" competition. The Empathy Foundation has started accepting applications for the competition among educators. The "Teaching as a Calling" competition provides teachers with the opportunity to exchange effective teaching practices, and the competition winners receive substantial cash prizes, as reported by media house Myslo.
“Every person has a teacher about whom they can say, ‘If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t have been able to do it’ or ‘Thanks to them, I learned,’ and I am no exception,” believes Mikhail Shelkov, entrepreneur and majority shareholder of the titanium corporation VSMPO-AVISMA, and founder of the charitable Empathy Foundation. “Therefore, the idea behind the foundation was a natural continuation of the respect I have for my teachers.”
“The year 2023 has been declared the Year of Teachers and Mentors by the country’s president. We approached our social partners, the Empathy Foundation and Mikhail Shelkov, with a proposal to expand the list of participant nominations for the competition. This proposal has been accepted. In addition, it was decided that funding for the ‘Calling – to Teach!’ competition would be increased, ” said Governor Alexey Dyumin at an operational meeting on May 15.
Minister of Education in Tula Region, Oksana Ostashko, explained that the application process for the competition’s participants started on May 15.
“The competition is now in its third year. The number of participants and winners is growing: in 2021 there were 33 awardees, in 2022 there were 51, and this year we plan for 63 teachers to receive various incentives and rewards. We express immense gratitude to the Empathy Foundation and Mikhail Shelkov – this year the list of categories has been expanded. For example, in the ‘Mentor Teacher’ category, sub-categories such as ‘Leading Mentor,’ ‘Senior Mentor’ and ‘Specialist Mentor’ have been introduced. There will be 9 winners in this category, each of whom will receive 150,000 rubles (~1940 USD) from the foundation. For comparison, last year the amount was 100,000 rubles (~1300 USD).”
The minister also mentioned the introduction of a new nomination – the head of the school museum.
Winners of the categories will receive an additional 20,000 rubles monthly (~260 USD). The funding provided by the Empathy Foundation to support teachers in 2023 will amount to 14.5 million rubles (~187 800 USD). For comparison, it was 8 million rubles (~103 600 USD) in 2021 and 11 million rubles (~142 400 USD) in 2022.
The results of the “Teaching as a Calling” competition will be announced in October 2023, coinciding with Teacher’s Day.
“It is very important that in the Year of Teachers and Mentors, this competition has gained new content and expanded financial support,” noted Alexey Dyumin. “I thank Mikhail Yevgenyevich Shelkov for his work in supporting our Oktava Cluster and initiating the ‘Teaching as a Calling’ competition.”