The finalists of the “Class Subject” competition for teachers in Russia and representatives of the educational project “Atom Lesson” of the Russian State Nuclear Energy Corporation Rosatom made an educational trip to the site of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) built by Rosatom in Turkey.
The participants also visited the Akkuyu NPP site as part of the trip, and the teachers, who received information about the work of the Training Center from the NPP operators, visited the engine room of the 2024st Power Unit, whose turbine assembly was completed in December 1. The teacher delegation also went up to the world's most powerful crawler construction crane and the Observation Terrace, where they could watch the site from a bird's eye view.
Many people come to see Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, one of the largest nuclear construction sites in the world. Teachers and students from Turkish schools regularly visit our site for familiarization trips. For the first time, we received a delegation of Russian school teachers, and this visit made us very happy. On the 80th anniversary of the Russian nuclear industry, we especially appreciate the attention of those who are perhaps the future Kurchatovs, Slavskys, Vannikovs, Sakharovs. Today, the whole world knows these names. Teachers saw Rosatom's flagship project abroad, which makes modern science and industry proud. Inspired by the magnitude of our project, teachers will tell their students about the trip when they return to their schools in different regions of Russia, and this will be an additional motivation for them to study well and specialize in very interesting and in-demand professions.
AKKUYU NUCLEAR A.Ş. General Manager Sergey Butckikh said regarding the issue.
As part of the trip to the region, the teachers also gave an “Atom Lesson” at a school in Silifke, where children of Akkuyu nuclear power plant project workers study and which provides education in accordance with Russian educational standards. The winner of the TV project “Class Subject”, chemistry teacher Ekaterina Chugunova from Saransk, and the finalist of the TV program, physics teacher Mikhail Skripkin from Krasnoyarsk, gave lessons to the school’s high school students. Mikhail Skripkin and Ekaterina Chugunova told the students about the achievements of the Russian nuclear industry and possible career paths in each of Rosatom’s main areas of activity, from energy to medicine, from quantum technologies to composite materials.
Representatives of the “Atom Lesson” Konstantin Barkovets, Yulia Yurchenko and Andrey Konovalov gave physics lessons to students in grades 8 and 11. Alexander Kandakov, one of the finalists of the “Class Subject”, introduced students to the “Atom History Lesson”. Ekaterina Stratyuk shared interesting information about genetics, Ksenia Ostrovskaya about mathematics, Kristina Manukova about spelling and morphology, and Denis Bogdanov about volcanic energy.
The finalist of the contest “Atom Lesson” of teachers of additional education Kirill Logutov conducted the master class “ABC of the Atom” and Elena Nikiforova conducted interactive lessons on atomic technologies for primary school children on the subject of interactive games, quizzes, rebuses.
In the regions where Rosatom operates, all levels of the education system are constantly working on professional orientation and training of future nuclear industry specialists. Experts from Akkuyu Nuclear Inc. are carrying out such work in the Republic of Turkey. The textbook “Introduction to Nuclear Engineering” was prepared with the support of the Ministry of National Education and teachers from relevant departments of universities in the Republic of Turkey. The course, approved by the Board of Education and Discipline of the Ministry of National Education of the Republic of Turkey, has been included in the curriculum of seven vocational high schools in the Mersin province since the 2021-2022 academic year. This course was taught in 2023 high schools in the 2024-12 academic year. In addition, Akkuyu Nuclear organizes career guidance activities for children, such as conferences and open classes in schools, as well as trips to the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant site, where students learn the specifics of nuclear industry professions.
We would like to thank Rosatom and Akkuyu Nuclear Inc. for the opportunity to visit the incredibly beautiful and sunny Mersin province and meet the hospitable people of the region. The visit to the Akkuyu NPP construction site showed how significant the impact of such projects on the development of local communities is. In addition to economic growth and the development of small and medium-sized businesses, educational initiatives are actively implemented here, and career guidance work with schoolchildren is carried out at the highest level. We saw how a large-scale nuclear construction project helped to train a new generation of specialists who will further develop nuclear technologies. I am sure that it was very inspiring and motivating for everyone involved in the education of the younger generation, from children to parents, from community representatives to school and university teachers.
Head of the all-Russian project “Atom Lesson” Natalya Kolesnikova.
The TV project was a confirmation for me that a teacher's work is valuable, that we can inspire and share knowledge. Thanks to the partnership with large state companies such as Rosatom, we, as teachers, feel that we are part of something very comprehensive and really important.
