Everyone knows that 2009 was announced the Youth Year in Russia. 5 Ballov’s staff writer Yulia Drozdova interviewed Alina Kabaeva, a member of the State Duma and Deputy Chair of its Youth Committee, who was the author of the Youth Year initiative.

— Alina, it was you who came up with the idea to announce 2009 the Youth Year. Tell me please what led you to this idea?

Since December 2007, I’m a member of the State Duma and deputy chair of the Youth Committee, so youth issues are my direct responsibility. I think it was quite logical for me to be the initiator of the Youth Year. Besides, I am young too, so I understand all problems experienced by the young. You see, I have at least two strong reasons to have initiated it. Of course, there have been and there are lots of youth programmes and projects in our country. I launched one myself last year, the Common State Exam helpdesk. But it seems to me, it's time to pay more attention to young people, their development and education, and the Youth Year will allow a more systematic and wide-scale approach to youth projects by covering the biggest possible number of regions, cities and villages. Generally, it’s an excellent opportunity to bring youth issues into the spotlight of the state, the public, and mass media.

Thanks to the support of the President and my fellow MPs, we are already living in the Youth Year now. My greatest wish is that we succeed in implementing all our ideas, and most of all, I hope this year will give an impetus for active growth and promotion of youth projects in the future.

— What do you think today’s young people are like?

I travel a lot to Russian regions and often talk to young people. I have surveyed young people’s opinions on many issues in different cities throughout Russia. I mean to say, I have quite a good understanding what they are interested in, what they are like, and what challenges they are facing. I think they are very independent, prudent, active, practical, ready to learn and assume responsibility. Young people want to do something, to change something, and they are not stopped by the challenges. I know by myself that we’re not afraid of hardships and are willing to work and achieve results.

— How difficult was it to implement the idea of the Youth Year, to get the support of other Duma members and the President?

There is a certain procedure for such proposals in our country. In the case of the Youth Year, it developed as follows. I decided to propose a Youth Year in our country and told my fellow MPs about my decision — to Ildar Gilmutdinov, Arsen Fadzayev, and Sergei Belokonev. They supported me. We collected the necessary papers and sent them for a legal review. Then the project was endorsed by the parliamentary United Russia party and was submitted for approval of the relevant committee, that is the Youth Committee. The committee liked our proposal and sent the papers to the State Duma Council, after which the plenary meeting on June 27 approved our initiative by an absolute majority of the deputies. I hoped, of course, that there wouldn?t be too many objections, but I was very surprised and pleased that substantially all MPs voted in favour (with just one abstention). Then the initiative to announce the Youth Year in the Russian Federation was submitted to Russian President. And finally, in September 2008, Dmitry Medvedev signed the decree announcing the Youth Year in 2009. That was how it happened.

— There are more than 400 youth organisations currently in Russia, but none of them is able to come close to what Komsomol was in terms of size. Do you think there’s a need for an organisation than can unite young people in today’s Russia?

To be honest, I don’t think such need exists. Why create an artificial wide-scale organisation to unite the young? I think, if they feel that there are problems that can’t be solved without getting united into such an organisation, they will unite, and I’m pretty sure they can do it without anyone else’s help. In general, I?m against any artificial inculcation of anything from above.

As for the existing organisations, perhaps it’s a good thing that they exist. They really represent the interests of certain parts of young population and help them solve their problems. But we must not forget that there are youngsters who don’t want to join any groups, who don’t feel it’s necessary. These people must be equally supported by our state. At large, I think we shouldn’t focus on the number of youth organisation but on the conditions that the state creates for young people so that they feel their country needs them.

— As an Olympic champion, what do you think should be done to make young people love sports?

You know, this is one of my biggest concerns today. I think there are several key steps that need to be taken. The first thing I’d like to say is that last year brought us many victories in sports, and we all saw how the nation rejoiced at these achievements. The more such victories, the stronger the impetus in children and young people to engage in sports and obtain results. They provide a role model for them. And for such victories to continue in the future, we must care about children’s sports and youth sports. Because today’s famous players are yesterday’s children.

As for the key steps that I’ve mentioned... First, it’s very important that the state should create favourable conditions for the development of popular sports, including construction of facilities, gyms, playing grounds and better financing of individual sports. The state must make them available for people with different incomes, so that children from low-income families can also attend athletic clubs, and the state should provide financing. There must be free clubs for children. I remember when my mother enrolled me in a rhythmic gymnastics club, it was free.

Second, there must be a system-based approach to coach education. What important here is that we should not only train qualified coaches but also incentivise them to stay in the profession.

The third critical thing is to tell youngsters that sports are important for their health and their future lives. I think it’s mainly their parents? responsibility — they should habituate their offspring to sports, take them to clubs and make them exercise and spare no time for that. Of course, the state must also promote a healthy lifestyle.

— In 2008, most high school leavers took the leaving exams in the form of a Common State Exam. As a result, about one fourth of them got E’s. What do you think was the reason why so many students failed?

Perhaps, a valid answer to this question cannot be given until the Education Ministry reviews the exam papers and results. I do not represent that department so I can only suggest that the main reason why students did not get decent grades was their fear of what was new and unknown to them. Somebody said that fear of hell is already hell. That’s what actually happened. This is why it’s very important to educate people about the rules and procedures of the Common State Exam. By the way, the CSE Hotline that I led during the 2008 examination period has confirmed this suggestion. When we were launching the line we were sure that students would have most difficulties with the content of subjects or the wording of test questions, so initially the call centre only employed teachers and experts to consult on the subjects. But before long we understood that many callers had questions about the exam procedure, and then I decided to invite officials from the Federal Education Service, who gave competent answers to all procedure-related inquiries. I’m thankful to the Federal Education Service for participating in the project. I hope this year their officials will join our helpdesk again.

— Do you think the Common State Exam can be the only format of the school leaving exams or should there be some alternative options?

You know, I can’t answer this question for sure. I think both the old knowledge testing system and the CSE have their own strengths and weaknesses. The old examination system could benefit from its individual approach to every student, but teachers could be biased, too. The biggest advantage of the CSE is its independence of the examiner’s attitude. So if the student knows and understands the subject well, the method of testing does not really matter. Certainly, the CSE still has some deficiencies, particularly technical errors, but they are being worked on. I know it for sure because I received feedback from students through my website when the hotline was working. My assistants passed this information on to education officials, and it helped them correct some of the errors. In any case, the decision to introduce or cancel the Common State Exam is beyond my competence, it is the responsibility of the Education Ministry. As for me, I’m going to launch the CSE Hotline again this year.

— Starting from 2009, Russia is finally switching to the two-tier, bachelor-master higher education system. How justified do you think is the criticism of this reform by Viktor Sadovnichy, head of Moscow State University?

Again, I’m not competent to judge the pros and cons of this system. But I think that when it comes to Moscow State University, there cannot be a simple answer. It’s truly an empire; no other Russian university has so many schools and departments. Besides, Moscow State University has a very long history and traditions that cannot be neglected when bringing in innovations. I think it’s not the matter of Sadovnichy’s negative attitude — but he is a person who deeply understands all the difficulties that will arise during the conversion. That’s why I’m more inclined to understand Mr. Sadovnichy’s concerns than to disagree with him. Anyway, I’m sure that switching to the two-tier education system is a question of time.

— Is there a success formula that can help a young ambitious person to get into big politics?

You know, I hope big politics will consist of increasingly fewer people who seek to be there by all means. From my point of view, it should be totally different. Politics must be the place for people who care about their country’s future, who want to work for its benefit and help people. Because politics is not a goal but a tool for achieving other goals. Otherwise, if politics becomes an instrument for satisfaction of one’s own ambitions, it can be bad for the society. As for the success formula, I think any occupation requires industry, talent, sense of purpose, and you shouldn’t be afraid to fail. Even if you have worked hard but the result fell short of your expectations, it means you can use this experience next time.

— Why did you leave professional sports for professional politics? And what goals do you set for yourself?

Actually, I’ve never thought about being a politician. One day I just realised I can’t be in professional sports all my life, I need to set new targets, think about another occupation where I could develop for a longer time. Furthermore, when I was still competing, many people asked me to help. But I was a gymnast then and my ability to help people was very limited. So when I was offered to become a Duma member, I agreed because I thought this status would give me more powers to help other people. And I was right.

What are my goals as an MP? To struggle for better living conditions for young people, as well as for any of my constituents who seek my help. In general, I believe that handling people’s requests and protecting their lawful rights is as essential for an MP as the legislative work.

The Duma is a very important part of my life, but I’m also engaged in several other activities that can be generally described as «civil society». I am the head of the Public Board in National Media Group, the author and host of the Steps to Success show on REN TV, and the president of a charity foundation. Naturally, each of these activities has different aims, but they complement each other to become one coherent whole. All things I do now are important and beneficial not only for me, but also, I’m sure, for the nation and the society.

Yulia Drozdova April 1, 2009 ©5ballov.ru.