President Putin said a public discussion was needed to assess the forms and extent of teaching national history and the history of religion in Russian schools.
Speaking about the Russian Academy of Sciences, President Putin admitted that some extremely dangerous plans for overhauling the Academy could have resulted in its liquidation, and that they would never be approved.
Mr Putin said the government must provide additional support for defence-related R&D projects, and that he would soon raise the monthly grants of scientists working on such projects to 20,000–30,000 roubles.
President Putin said the government must focus on budgetary scientific sectors, and that it must also support the national pharmaceutical industry so that it could sell national medications on the global market.