Yandex Lyceum to teach schoolchildren in Tatarstan to create AI agents and program with neural networks free of charge
Schoolchildren and college students in Tatarstan will be able to study AI agent development, the fundamentals of artificial intelligence and its application in robotics through three new Yandex Lyceum programs in the 2026/27 academic year. Additionally, AI topics will be incorporated into existing Lyceum courses: students will use neural networks to solve problems, write code and create projects.
The full-time course "Introduction to AI" is aimed at students who are just beginning to program. Over three months, participants will learn the principles of language model operation, master basic Python tools including the Pandas library and try their hand at solving machine learning and text processing problems. Enrollment in the program is available in any of the 150 cities where Yandex Lyceum operates.
The course "AI in Robotics" will launch at more than 50 locations across 30 regions of the country, with each site receiving five educational delivery robots for classes. Over the course of a year, participants will teach the devices to understand commands in Russian, map unfamiliar spaces, find and recognize objects and navigate toward them autonomously. Students will work with cameras and lidars, master computer vision, neural network object detection models and speech recognition and synthesis technologies. In Tatarstan, training is available at two locations: the Kvantorium children's Technopark in Naberezhnye Chelny and the Yelabuga Institute of Kazan Federal University.
For those who already program confidently in Python, the Lyceum is launching the online course "AI Agent Development." Over three months, participants will learn the principles of building such systems, understand how agents are structured and how they work with memory, external data sources and tools. Students will then create their own agent and a team project, which they will present to Yandex specialists.
Additionally, annual Yandex Lyceum programmes will now include sessions on working with artificial intelligence. Students will learn to program and write code documentation alongside AI, as well as work with AI agents.
"Developer requirements are changing: now it's important not only to be able to write code independently but also to use artificial intelligence to optimize development and increase its efficiency. We want Yandex Lyceum training to teach students how development works in the industry today, so we are preserving the fundamental base while adding modern AI practices," Head of Yandex Lyceum Aleksander Pavolotsky said.
In the 2026/27 academic year, Yandex Lyceum will offer 23 free programs, with full-time course at more than 310 locations in 150 Russian cities, as well as online options. Approximately 50,000 schoolchildren and college students aged 13 to 20 will be able to participate in the courses. Yandex Lyceum graduates who complete programs with honors will receive additional points when applying to leading Russian universities, including ITMO, Bauman Moscow State Technical University, FEFU and others.
In Tatarstan, training is offered at the following locations:
— AI in Robotics: Kvantorium Children's Technopark in Naberezhnye Chelny, Yelabuga Institute of KFU in Yelabuga.
— Python Programs: MCC-KCITC (IT-Cube) in Kazan, Zelenodolsk Mechanical College in Zelenodolsk, Lyceum No. 9 named after A.S. Pushkin in Zelenodolsk, Boarding Lyceum No. 1 in Almetyevsk, Lyceum No. 131 in Kazan, Lyceum No. 145 in Kazan, Gymnasium No. 102 in Kazan, Alekseevskaya Secondary School No. 1 in Alekseevskoye, Rybno-Slobodskaya Secondary School No. 2 in Rybnaya Sloboda, Chistopol Branch of KNRTU-KAI in Chistopol, Naberezhnye Chelny State Pedagogical University in Naberezhnye Chelny, Almetyevsk Polytechnic College (IT-Cube) in Almetyevsk, Multidisciplinary Lyceum No. 11 in Kazan, Innopolis Lyceum in Innopolis, Boarding Lyceum named after M. Ondzhel in Bugulma, Kvantorium Children's Technopark in Naberezhnye Chelny, Yelabuga Institute of KFU.
— Introduction to AI: IT Lyceum of KFU in Kazan, Boarding Lyceum No. 1 in Almetyevsk, Yelabuga Institute of KFU in Yelabuga, Gymnasium No. 102 in Kazan, Boarding Lyceum named after M. Ondzhel in Bugulma, Almetyevsk Polytechnic College (IT-Cube) in Almetyevsk.
Enrollment is now open and available on the Yandex Lyceum website.