Education for all
Yandex understands the value of quality learning. It opens new horizons and allows people to pursue their most ambitious professional opportunities.
Educational Initiatives Through Time
Educational initiative
In 2019, we consolidated our experience with educational projects and introduced the Educational Initiative. The Initiative became a comprehensive pro bono program that focused on four areas of impact – teaching computer skills to the youth, training educators on effective teaching techniques with the use of cutting-edge digital instruments, supporting research and modernizing education infrastructure.
The Initiative laid at the core of our commitment to creating equal opportunities and changing the perception of IT occupations being 'male' jobs. We focused on building awareness about careers in IT and developing technological acumen among all, empowering female students, the ones who often feel hesitant, to pursue university degrees and careers in tech.
Yandex employees have been playing the key role in carrying out the Initiative’s objectives: many of them contributed and keep contributing as course developers, trainers and facilitators.
First Educational Projects
With the aim to contribute to fostering education in Russia and to address the shortage of IT specialists in the market, we launched our first educational project, Yandex’s School of Data Analysis (YSDA), back in 2007. The YSDA began offering free then-unique data science courses to university students and graduates. Building on the initiative’s success, we proceeded with investing in knowledge sharing and digital tools for improved learning experience – through partnerships with leading universities and research institutions and learning solutions for students and teachers.
Results of Educational Initiatives
Areas of Impact
Improving access to quality IT and mathematics education
Over 2,000
schoolchildren graduated from Lyceum by Yandex in the 2020-21 academic year where they studied programming
Over 3,000
IT specialists were trained by Yandex Academy in 2020-21 academic year
Nearly 500
students graduated from joint degree programs with universities in the 2020-21 academic year
61%
of graduates of Yandex School of Data Analysis have worked or currently work at Yandex
Key projects
- Free IT training for the youth. Includes Yandex Lyceum for middle and high school students, Yandex School of Data Analysis (YSDA), seasonal schools, internships and other projects.
Joint degree programs
Offered at leading universities: Lomonosov MSU, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, HSE, Ural Federal University, Belarusian State University and more.Student competitions
In mathematics, programming and linguistics. Yandex is also the main partner of the International Collegial Programming Contest in Russia, the CIS and BalticsRegional programs
IT study programs offered for students of local educational institutions across Russia
Helping teachers and developing the community of educators
1.9 million
schoolchildren used Yandex Textbook in class in the 2020-21 academic year
100,000+
educators took Yandex Textbook training sessions in the 2020-21 academic year
Key projects
- Free online learning platform containing interactive courses and sets of exercises that cover school curriculum
- A flagship event bringing together educators, EdTech experts, product developers, researchers and learners to discuss challenges in education and training and ways to address those
Supporting science and fostering a knowledge society
29
Ilya Segalovich Award winners since 2019
860,000
people participated in the Cultural Marathon in 2020
Key projects
- Established to support the scientific community in Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan by recognizing outstanding achievements in computer science
- Russia-wide educational project that introduces children to the basics of digital economy and technology trends
- An online immersive quiz for children and adults that aims to deepen knowledge of cultural and ethnic diversity of Russia
- One of the oldest and the most influential scientific congresses in the world held since 1897
Building strong education infrastructure through technology and research
Key projects
Yandex services for universities
Yandex Cloud, Yandex 360, a comprehensive digital assistant, and Yandex Toloka, a crowdsourcing platform to support machine learningI’m a Professional
Hosted on a digital platform provided by Yandex, the contest challenges job-specific knowledge of undergraduate and graduate students- An online platform for hosting computer programming contests among students
Research support
Access to digital tools and knowledge databases, collaboration with Yandex engineers and industry experts
Practicum by Yandex
Yandex also runs Practicum, an online bootcamp that targets self-driven individuals seeking careers in IT. Practicum by Yandex offers paid courses in the areas of web development, data analysis, data science and some other fields, each calibrated to suit learners of different backgrounds and skill levels, from the beginners to the advanced audience. Students are offered immersive, practice-oriented experiences guided by tech industry professionals.
Real-life business cases
Guidance from tech professionals
78%( of Practicum students aiming at a new profession get a job in their chosen field, as per the Higher School of Economics study (RU) conducted in 2021)