ST. PETERSBURG. March 26 (Interfax-AVN) - Another 300 ex- servicemen, who have undergone conversion training within the framework of the special Russian-British program, are to graduate in St. Petersburg on Friday.
"The graduation ceremony of 295 servicemen, who have undergone conversion training under the Russian-British program, is to be held at the Military Logistics and Transportation Academy today," Larisa Pletneva, head of the Educational Methodology Department in the St. Petersburg Employment Service's Additional Professional Education Institute, told Interfax- Military News Agency on Friday.
According to her, conversion training of retired servicemen within the framework of the Russian-British program is one of the priority workstreams for the institute.
Major efforts are aimed at providing ex-servicemen with quality civil profession conversion training. An important task consists in providing students with psychological assistance, pertaining to professional orientation, social adaptation, and job placement, Pletneva said.
Ex-servicemen undergo a three-month long intensive course (a total of 504 academic hours), involving 12 subjects, at such departments as the Informational Technologies Department and the Applied Economics and Management Department. English language was also included in the conversion training program last November.
Pletneva noted that the institute had trained a total of 4,168 people in the past six years within the framework of the Russian-British program.
"The institute also assists its student in finding a job, with up to 85% of its students finding a job within several months after graduation. The institute also closely cooperates with various St. Petersburg-based enterprises and organizations. The traditional job fair, held jointly with the Job Placement Center of St. Petersburg Central District, will also take place in the course of the graduation ceremony," Pletneva said.
Colonel Yury Klenov, assistant of the Leningrad Military District commander for public relations, told Interfax-AVN that the District Personnel Directorate, St. Petersburg city and district military commissioner's offices, and military commissioner's offices of the Leningrad region also actively assisted in finding students for the institute.
"The next term is slated for March 30, 2004," Klenov said.
The graduation ceremony to be held on Friday will see participation of British Consul General in St. Petersburg Barbara Hay, coordinator of the Russian-British program Maxwell Jardim, municipal authorities, representatives of the Leningrad Military District, and other officials.