ANOC Culture and Education Commission discussed scholarship programmes

On December 1, under the chairmanship of the President of the ROC Stanislav Pozdnyakov, a meeting of the ANOC Culture and Education Commission was held. The event, which took place online, was attended by IOC member, Secretary General of ANOC Gunilla Lindberg who highlighted the productive work of the Commission.

The main topics on the agenda were ANOC’s scholarship programmes and ways to improve their quality and accessibility. The members of the Commission got acquainted with an overview of the current situation, discussed possibilities for improving these programmes, as well as the importance of direct contacts and interaction of the National Olympic Committees with ANOC scholarship holders.

The Commission put forward an initiative to conduct a survey of the National Olympic Committees in order to assess their participation in the programmes under consideration. In addition, a proposal was made to create a community of ANOC alumni scholarship holders in order to exchange experience and develop contacts between young specialists from different countries.

As part of the meeting, a presentation was made of four international Master’s programmes in Olympic education that could be adopted as new directions. The members of the Commission noted the prospects for candidates who successfully accomplished these courses and their possible participation in improving the work of National Olympic Committees and other organizations/departments in the field of sport.

On a separate note, an issue was raised about the relevance and the need to increase the availability of educational programmes, including through the introduction of regional programmes in different languages ​​of the world (in addition to English, French and Spanish). Furthermore, the participants of the meeting reviewed several initiatives organized by various National Olympic Committees during the pandemic around the world.

“The current situation not only brought about trials and tribulations, but also helped to develop understanding and gain practical experience in terms of effective organization of work and processes of additional education,” said Stanislav Pozdnyakov, Head of the ANOC Commission on Culture and Education, summing up the results of the meeting. “This is especially important in conditions when it is necessary to effectively organize joint work of representatives from various countries in different parts of the world. We will continue to implement these important tasks.”