"The Future of the Republic": the final meeting of the School Business Start project was held in Kazan

In Kazan, at the National Library of the Republic of Tatarstan, the final meeting of the teams of the Republican program "School Business Start" was held, implemented within the framework of the National Project "Small and medium-sized entrepreneurship and support for individual entrepreneurial initiative". 12 school companies – finalists of the project – competed for the title of the best.

The winners of the project were the team "Baby" from Kazan gymnasium No. 122 (nomination "Business of the capital"), the team "Busy Kids BIZI BEZ" from Arsk Secondary school No. 1 (nomination "Breakthrough of the Year") and the team "Health Shop" from Menzelinsky school No. 2 (nomination "Business of the Future"). The winners will go on an excursion to Skolkovo, and during the summer holidays they will visit the Gorky film studio in Moscow, where they will learn how to shoot promo videos for business development.

The project "School Business Start" was launched in September 2022 on behalf of the Head of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov and covered 12 thousand Tatarstan children from different parts of the republic, mainly from rural schools and small towns. Those who were most interested in entrepreneurial activity and demonstrated the corresponding abilities were selected from them. In December 2022, they became participants of the school fair, where they presented their goods to the court of buyers and experts, and then took part in the business case championship, within which they offered their business development ideas to experienced Tatarstan entrepreneurs.

The project was organized by the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Tatarstan and the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Tatarstan. The goal of the School Business Start project was to form a new generation of business leaders and create conditions for the growth of the number of young entrepreneurs, as well as to increase the share of their activities in the region's economy through the formation of entrepreneurial thinking among schoolchildren.

"School Business Start" allowed us to teach children to think and act like businessmen. Already now these students are producing their products or services, have gained experience in communicating with suppliers and buyers. These are already entrepreneurs, just young ones. They were also helped by the fact that experienced businessmen shared their knowledge with them throughout the project, who acted as their mentors. These children are the future of Tatarstan business. And we see the beginning of their journey," says Elena Tikhonova, head of the School Business Start project.

Experienced entrepreneurs who advised the participants of the program made a great contribution to the implementation of the project. "When current entrepreneurs reveal their business cases to schoolchildren, tell not only about how they earned the first million, but also about their mistakes, share invaluable experience, it definitely has practical benefits," said Aidar Salikhov, Director General of the Entrepreneurship Support Fund.

Deputy Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Tatarstan Minzaliya Zakirova recalled that the methodological basis of the project was developed by specialists of the Institute for the Development of Education under the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Tatarstan.

"Our specialists, who understand the age characteristics of children, have developed a methodology that allowed us to successfully implement this project. It turned out that the program is most successful for students in grades 6-7. In order to produce this or that product, the students studied the market and the needs of people. Thanks to the project, we teach children entrepreneurship from school age, which means that the region's economy will develop," Zakirova said.

The event was attended by the Head of the Arsky municipal district of the Republic of Tatarstan Ilshat Nuriyev, the head of the Baltasinsky municipal district of the Republic of Tatarstan Ramil Lutfullin, the head of the Sarmanovsky municipal district of the Republic of Tatarstan Farit Khusnullin, as well as the head of the executive committee of the Bugulminsky municipal district of the Republic of Tatarstan Artur Gershikov.

The final meeting of school companies was held with the support of the My Business Center, the Entrepreneurship Support Fund of the Republic of Tatarstan and the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Tatarstan as part of the implementation of the national project "Small and Medium-sized entrepreneurship and support for individual entrepreneurial initiative".