Internet Educational Centers for Teachers Opened throughout Russia

By 2006, over 250,000 teachers in Russia will become knowledgeable in Internet technologies with the support of the Federation of Internet Education. This is according to the statement made today at the opening of a course of Internet technologies for teachers of religious and secular schools, by Sergei Monakhov, Executive Secretary of the federation.

Mr. Monakhov said that, by this time, 29 regional Internet educational centres had been created in Russia and one in Minsk, the capital of Belarus. Each one can accept up to 1,000 students. According to him, over 40,000 people had graduated from these courses as of November 2002.

The Federation of Internet Education, created with the support of the YUKOS oil company, works in a close cooperation with the government of the Russian Federation. The Public Supervisory Council of the federation includes Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Chairman of the Board of Directors of YUKOS, Valentina Matviyenko, a Deputy Prime Minister of Russia; and Vladiomir Filippov, Russia's Minister of Education, among others.