Over 11,000 residents acquired IT Skills through "School 21"
At a weekly meeting of Tatarstan Ministry of Digitalization, they said that "School 21" has provided free training in in-demand IT professions to over 11,000 individuals, with its graduates securing employment at leading IT companies and startups.
"School 21" is a digital technologies school created by Sberbank, offering anyone aged 18 and above the opportunity to obtain an IT specialization free of charge.
The school has an educational campus in Kazan. Over its entire operation, more than 4,200 people have been trained there, with approximately 1,100 currently enrolled. Participants of the campus include residents of Bashkortostan, Udmurtia, Mary El, Perm Krai, Ulyanovsk, Chelyabinsk, Samara and Sverdlovsk regions, as well as students from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Azerbaijan. About 74% of graduates remain working in Tatarstan.
"School 21" implements several educational programs:
For the general population: training across a wide range of specialties such as application and game development, cybersecurity, systems analysis, and others.
Territorial development: creating educational products tailored to the needs of the public sector and businesses within the republic. For instance, the school held 10 outreach events on artificial intelligence across 10 districts of Tatarstan.
Corporate programs: training companies on working with AI and data analysis, including managers from Rostelecom branches.
"School 21" is also a key developer of a professional development program for teachers in Tatarstan schools, covering 100% of IT teachers (623 individuals). Participants in the "School 21" module will learn how to create AI agents and teach children to work with AI. A dedicated project website with materials accessible even after completing the course has been developed. Recently, 239 teachers were confirmed to lead AI clubs in schools across the republic. Throughout the year, support will be provided to help open AI clubs based at various schools. This is part of an extensive republican program to advance artificial intelligence.
Additionally, "School 21" developed an educational module within the "Personnel for the Future Economy" programme for Tatarstan civil servants. The module will take place on June 24–25, 2026. It is aimed at training civil servants to design AI agents tailored to the needs of the republic.
The training of specialists directly supports the strategic objectives of the national project "Data Economy and Digital Transformation of the State."