#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. On October 5, 1944, the northernmost educational institution opened in the settlement of Norilsk. Classes began at the Norilsk mining and metallurgical college in a two-story building on Octyabrskaya street, 10. From this day, we can count the history of technical educational institutions beyond the Arctic Circle.
At that time 185 full-time students sat down at their desks: former front-line soldiers, yesterday’s schoolchildren, 30 representatives of indigenous peoples. Training was conducted in the following specialties: Heavy non-ferrous metals metallurgy, Ore deposits development, Coal deposits development, Non-ferrous metal ores beneficiation and Industrial enterprises’ electrical equipment. Scientists with world-famous names were among the teachers of the technical school: Nikolay Fedorovsky, Fedor Schmidt, Leonid Anisimov, Nikolay Urvantsev – the discoverer and tireless researcher of the Norilsk ore deposit and others. Two years later, the geological exploration department was opened, and a year later, the technical school organized the training of specialists in the development of stratified deposits. Then the first graduation took place: 66 graduates received diplomas: 15 miners, 15 metallurgists, 14 enrichment workers and 22 electricians. Among the first graduates were: Mikhail Nikiforov (future director of the copper plant), Vladimir Volkov (future head of the combine’s scientific and technical office), Petr Velikzhanin (future head of the nickel plant’s smelting shop), Leonid Danilov (future chief mechanic of the combine), Boris Kolesnikov (future director of the combine), Victor Averkin and Pavel Potylitsyn (future masters of the copper plant), Izosim Chalkin, Irina Ignatovskaya, Maria Kozhevnikova and many other future heads of the NMMC departments.
In 1959, the evening faculty of the Krasnoyarsk institute of non-ferrous metals was opened. And two years later, the Norilsk evening industrial institute was organized. The mining and metallurgical college became part of the institute as a secondary technical faculty. Thus began a new history of the technical school already as part of the institute, for which it created a material base and trained teaching staff.
Today, the polytechnic college celebrates its anniversary, in honor of which the college held entrance exams of the 1944 model. Anyone who wanted could write a dictation or do mathematics using the same tasks that Norilsk applicants completed in 1944.
As Svetlana Blinova, acting director of the college, said, people of different ages entered in those years. For modern applicants, the exams are not easy – at least in mathematics:
“Today’s tasks are of a different kind, more formalized: substitute formulas, calculate. At those times they were thematic and focused on life’s realities: production plan, salary percentage, and so on. And all this – without calculators. Today’s examinees will also do sums in their heads: we would like them to feel immersed in that time. They even write on papers with seals ‘Norilsk mining and metallurgical college, 1944, Norilsk settlement’. As for the Russian language, we suggested writing a dictation about the Motherland, and the Russian language has always been difficult”.
She said that the tasks proposed for the exam were real: they were taken from those years’ applicants’ personal files, submitted to the city archive.
Elena Alilekova, the college’s full-time department head, who conducted the dictation on the Russian language, said that it was not possible to find a text from the 40s, however, the proposed one was also historical, in the Soviet style:
“It seems to me that it is not particularly difficult for current applicants. This year, the guys came with quite high scores, I think there will be good results”.
One of those taking the exam that day was Denis Borodin, a journalist from the Siberian news portal. He had previously taken part in similar dictations. He was interested in passing the current exam not only from a professional point of view, but also curious to test himself from the point of view of the entrance exams of the 1940s:
“I haven’t seen the text that I have to write yet, but I don’t think it will be very difficult: it was wartime or post-war, and it was necessary to teach as many people as possible different specialties. Or maybe they passed without any discounts. We’ll check today. Perhaps, I believe I’ll be able to show a good result”.
On the same day, while the guests watched a production by young artists of a theater studio, dedicated to the discovery of the Norilsk by Nikolay Urvantsev, and then took a quiz about significant dates and great figures of the technical school, the teachers checked the works. It’s nice that all those who took the exam, would have been admitted based on the results!
Another highlight of the college, immersed in the 40s, was the historical menu in the cafeteria. True, after studying the archives, it became clear that the menu as a whole have not changed much over the past decades (the same soups, cutlets, mashed potatoes, etc.), but some things still sent us back to the 40s: buckwheat and pearl barley with stewed meat, as well as ‘frontline’ sandwiches – with lard and pickled cucumber.
Of course, compared to 1944, the modern college has undergone colossal changes. But what remains unchanged, say teachers, is its desire to keep up with the times. New training areas are regularly opened at the PTC. There are ten of them today.
“Not only the specialties in demand by the city-forming enterprise are open, but also those that are needed in a variety of areas: economics, accounting, documentary and legal support. We have over 1000 students studying with us. The competition is growing every year: this year it has already reached three people per place, which is a high bar”, says Svetlana Blinova.
Follow us on Telegram, VKontakte.
Text: Maria Sokolova, Photo: Nikolay Shchipko
