A forum titled "Contemporary Geographical Education: Challenges, Opportunities, Solutions" was held at KFU.

      The event was organized by Kazan University in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Tatarstan.

      In the assembly hall of the Institute of Geology and Oil and Gas Technologies of Kazan Federal University a republican forum of geography teachers “Modern Geographic Education: Challenges, Opportunities, Solutions” took place. Participants in the event, organized by KFU together with the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Tatarstan, included: KFU Vice-Rector for Petroleum Technologies, Environmental Management and Earth Sciences Danis Nurgaliev; President of the Interregional Association of Geography Teachers of Russia, head of the Federal Commission of developers of exam materials (KIM) for the Unified State Exam (EGE) and Basic State Exam (OGE) in geography, and Head of the Department of Economic and Social Geography named after RAO Academician V.P. Maksakovsky at the Moscow State Pedagogical University Alexander Lobzhanidze; Chairman of the regional branch of the Russian Geographical Society in the Republic of Tatarstan Dmitry Shiller; Head of the Department of General Education and Final Certification of Students of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Tatarstan Lilia Saubanova; Deputy Director for Educational Activities of the Institute Andrey Terekhin; Head of the Department of Theory and Methods of Geographical and Environmental Education of the Institute Ruslan Ulengov; a professor of that department and Chairman of the regional branch of the Interregional Association of Geography Teachers of Russia in the Republic of Tatarstan Ilgizar Gaisin; Head of the Department of Geography and Cartography of the Institute Elena Pudovik; as well as KFU lecturers, postgraduate students and students, and school teachers from various districts of Tatarstan and Kazan.

      During his speech D. Nurgaliev spoke about the important role of geography and reminded the audience that we live in the largest country in the world, rich in natural resources.

      “We will try to pay more attention to geological education for geography teachers. I believe that a distinguishing feature of Tatarstan geographers should be their strong geological training,” the KFU vice-rector noted. “With the support of the Head of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Nurgaliyevich Minnikhanov, the Republican Open Field Olympiad of Young Geologists is held annually. Geological education of students is very important. For example, geological collections can be created in schools. It is quite possible that in the future we will be able to teach geology to schoolchildren. Why not initiate such a pilot project?”

      He then presented a letter of appreciation from the KFU rector to Alexander Lobzhanidze and gave him several books.

      Congratulating the forum participants, D. Shiller emphasized that knowledge of geography and the ability to navigate maps in certain situations can save people’s lives.

      “I want to draw attention to the fact that today it is very important to teach schoolchildren to work with maps,” he told the school teachers. “I invite you to participate in projects of the Russian Geographical Society. Believe me, they are very interesting and multifaceted!”

      Lilia Saubanova thanked KFU for organizing the forum and the geography teachers for their work.

      “We are all glad that geography has entered the so‑called ‘gold standard’ of knowledge for grades 10–11. Thank you for putting your heart into teaching this subject,” she said.

      Alexander Lobzhanidze reported that the Interregional Association of Geography Teachers of Russia turned 30 this year and noted the significant work of the association’s regional branch in Tatarstan and its chairman I. Gaisin, and also expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Tatarstan and KFU for organizing the forum.

      “In his speech at the 17th Congress of the Russian Geographical Society, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin proposed to declare 2027 the Year of Geography in Russia. I would very much like this to contribute to significant changes in the attitude toward the school subject ‘geography,’” he emphasized.

      Lobzhanidze’s presentation was devoted to the problems of geographic education and ways to solve them. Among these problems are imperfect textbooks, a shortage of qualified personnel, and insufficient digitization of the educational process.

      “Tatarstan has always been among the leading regions both in terms of the introduction of new technologies and in terms of implementing new teaching methods,” the president of the Interregional Association of Geography Teachers of Russia said after the forum. “In addition, there are consistently many prizewinners and winners of school geography olympiads here, which testifies to a fairly high level of education in the region.”

      He added that he would like the forum to become larger, more interactive, and organized within several sections. Then teachers would have more opportunities to share their experience and present their best practices.

      Among those who talked about their experience was geography teacher of Gymnasium No. 102 named after M.S. Ustinova in Kazan Galina Zakharova. Her report was titled “Methodological Recommendations for Preparing Students to Complete Open-Response Tasks of the Unified State Exam in Geography in the 2025–2026 Academic Year.”

      “I have long been an expert on the subject commission for checking the OGE and EGE,” she noted. “In my presentation I informed about the results of the Unified State Exam in geography and explained what to pay special attention to in order to avoid typical mistakes. It may seem at first glance that passing the geography exam is not difficult, but when students start preparing for it, it turns out that they must recall all the topics studied from grades 5 to 11. In addition, the EGE contains tasks that require applying existing knowledge in new circumstances. Very often examinees lose points when completing such tasks.”

      E. Pudovik’s report, in which she spoke about modern trends in geography and cartography, aroused great interest among forum participants.

      Author: Larisa Busil, photo by the author

      Source: KFU

      05.11.2025 18:00

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