Russian high school students should receive monetary rewards from the state for good grades, State Duma MP Anna Skroznikova has suggested in an address to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.
According to her proposal cited by Russian media on Monday, the money they earn would be added to their ‘Pushkin Card’.
The special card, which was introduced in 2021, can be obtained by any citizen aged 14 to 22. It contains a certain amount provided by the government which can be spent on tickets to museums, theaters, and other cultural institutions and events.
Data from the program’s operator suggests that the Pushkin Card is currently owned by more 7 million people across the country. The number of payments made through it has already exceeded 10 billion rubles (around $120 million).
“Given the positive impact of the Pushkin Card on the cultural development of young people, it seems appropriate to conduct an experiment on the use of this program to create material incentives in order to improve the academic performance” of the students, the MP wrote in her address.
Mishustin, who has advocated for the wider use of the card, has not yet responded to the idea.
Skroznikova represents the New People party (Novye Lyudi), which was founded in 2020. The party claimed 5.3% percent in the parliamentary election in 2021 and currently hold 15 seats out of 450 in the State Duma.