The meeting's theme was the role of culture and education in the development of children's creative skills. The President noted that this topic is particularly relevant in light of the ongoing modernisation of Russia's economy.
Meeting participants also discussed the possibilities of education beyond school, ensuring access to cultural values and their use throughout Russia, the development of a network of libraries and other cultural institutions, support for various forms of reading, and the establishment of a Russian science and education TV channel.
In his speech Dmitry Medvedev devoted a great deal of attention to the need for searching out and supporting gifted children, noting that it is precisely such gifted, creative people who can promote progress and participate in the modernisation of the government, society and the economy. It is necessary to encourage individual skills, to create an environment for their development, and to support teachers who do this, Mr Medvedev said.
Russia has accumulated very interesting experience and concrete results in this regard, but this is still not enough, the President said. We must create a national system for searching out and promoting the development of gifted children, Mr Medvedev emphasised, but it is impossible to do so via bureaucratic methods or merely relying on enthusiasm alone. Instead, such committed work should take place throughout Russia and make use of public resources as well as citizens' initiatives and desires. Searching out and supporting gifted young people will be successful only if the process is conducted systematically and at all levels, including regional and municipal ones.