Enterprises reveal their production secrets to schoolchildren

The more different information you have in your head, the easier it will be to choose a profession.

Children are our future, but we still need to help give them a start in this future. The sooner a student realizes what his purpose is and in what field of activity he himself will receive satisfaction from work and bring the greatest benefit to his country, the better for all parties. It is for these purposes that the reforms carried out by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation in the educational environment included the introduction of a Unified System of Career Guidance for Schoolchildren. And one of the most effective and, by the way, children’s favorite tools for early career guidance is introducing students to existing professions directly in production, where some of them may develop an interest in a particular specialty.

“MK” conducted its own opinion poll on the topic: “How useful are excursions to enterprises as part of educational work on career guidance at school,” and the overwhelming majority of Russians – 86%! – They answered: “Completely useful.” 7% of respondents do not recognize the proper effect of excursions, but it is obvious that their children simply have not been on them, since schoolchildren enthusiastically visit production enterprises, and many of them then decide on their future profession, as teachers often say.

As noted by the Minister of Education of the Russian Federation, Sergei Kravtsov, career guidance has always been part of our education system, but it was implemented fragmentarily and often depended on the activity of teachers and local leaders themselves. “We will deal with this most important issue systematically and comprehensively,” the minister said. He added that “the first idea of ​​the world of blue-collar professions is formed at school,” when children “decide the most important questions: who to be, what profession they like, what is more interesting and closer.”

A unified system of career guidance for schoolchildren, which was called the “career guidance minimum,” began to be implemented in all schools in the country from September 1, 2023, starting from the 6th grade. There is also a separate federal project within the framework of the national project “Education” – “The Success of Every Child”, and within it there is also such a “Ticket to the Future” – a program aimed at early vocational guidance for students in grades 6–11. As part of it, children visit production facilities. The “Ticket to the Future” project is being implemented to make it easier for schoolchildren to choose a future specialty.

Here are some recent examples of schoolchildren visiting enterprises in the Moscow region as part of the “Ticket to the Future” project. At the beginning of November, students of grades 7–10 from different schools visited three enterprises in the city. Pushkinsky, Moscow region. At the first of them – the weaving factory – the teenagers were told the history of the development of weaving manufactory, shown the structure of a weaving loom, and introduced to the varieties of fabrics. Pupils from another school visited a plant for the production of paper and plastic tableware, containers, lids, bags, wrappers, and food packaging in Ivanteevka. And the third enterprise that revealed its production secrets to children is Sovokrim CJSC, one of the world leaders producing equipment for the grain processing industry. There, the children were told about the production process: from creating a model of grain processing equipment to manufacturing the product itself.

“Children should definitely be taken on such excursions so that they can get an idea of ​​the professions that exist in modern society,” personnel selection consultant and psychologist Svetlana Lenkova shared her opinion with MK. – Moreover, they need to be shown all the professions that exist in a particular enterprise. Children must understand how this or that product, this or that thing is made. Such trips not only broaden their horizons well, but are also important from a psychological point of view (what work means in society, what it is like and why it should be valued), and, of course, from the point of view of early career guidance.

Based on personal experience, I will give an example: sometimes you give a list of elementary professions to children – there is such a test in career guidance, and they do not understand what a “turner” is, what a “layout designer” is. That is, their parents didn’t explain this to them, they didn’t talk about it at school, and I have to explain it to them “on my fingers.” And those children who were taken on excursions to production know all this. It is easier to talk with such children about who they would like to be.

According to the expert, it is not very advisable to conduct career guidance earlier than the 6th grade. But at the age of 12, a teenager gradually begins to understand what he would like more – to work with his hands or with his head?

“Children change, grow, their background expands, their horizons expand, and by the age of 12 they grow personally,” says the expert. – But at the same time, you can take younger children on field trips, but these should only be bright, interesting excursions for kids; perhaps where they make toys, ordinary or Christmas toys, or produce some kind of food, in the same chocolate factories or bakeries. Then the children will remember it. They will remember how this toy was made, who made it. And they slowly begin to accumulate knowledge about certain professions in their heads. And the more different information they have in their heads, the easier it will be for them to make a choice in the future.

Photo: Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation