Forge of frames
The technical school was created by order of the head of the Moscow Metrostroy Mikhail Samodurov No. 419 dated November 23, 1943 “for the purpose of high-quality training of qualified personnel in leading metro construction specialties.” We visited the director of the Technical School, Sergei Khodakovsky, and found out how the organization celebrates its 80th anniversary.
During their educational activities at the Technical School, over 140 thousand specialists from various regions of the country received a working profession and improved their qualifications. If in 1944 411 people were trained, then in 2022 – 7.5 thousand, and in less than 2023 – 6.5 thousand people.
“When I became director in 2014, there were only four training programs, but today there are more than 70 of them. Training is conducted in the most popular construction specialties, both general and narrow metro construction,” says Sergei Khodakovsky.
– The backbone of the construction teams of Mosmetrostroy organizations are school graduates.
Today, more than 30 construction organizations in Moscow, Moscow region and Russian regions cooperate with the Technical School. Among them are not only Metrostroy SMU, but also large holdings - Mosinzhproekt JSC, Transinzhstroy, DSK-1, Moscow Metro, etc. At the school you can study or improve your qualifications in the following specialties: miner, shaft worker, tunneler, insulator, tunneling complex operator, electric welder, crane operator, mine hoist operator (a specialty in demand among women), winch operator, reinforcement worker, concrete worker, etc.
The study takes place face-to-face and takes two weeks. There is a theoretical part and, of course, practical training at a construction site.
– Such working specialties as a tunneler, a miner, a shaft worker, a hoisting machine operator, a TBM operator, and a compressor operator can only be mastered at a Technical School. These professions do not exist in higher educational institutions or colleges. We are also the only ones in Moscow who train mine rescuers,” explains Sergei Viktorovich.
After completing the training and passing the exams, students receive a certificate of assignment to a working specialty. If we are talking about advanced training courses, a certificate is issued. The profession of a mine rescuer with the help of the Technical School can also be obtained in Chita, Khabarovsk, Krasnoyarsk and St. Petersburg. Locally hired teachers give lectures, the Ministry of Emergency Situations carries out certification, and the Technical School issues a corresponding document.
PRACTITIONER TEACHERS
The Technical School staff consists of 15 people - teachers and industrial training masters who pass on knowledge and experience in subway construction. Among them are both full-time specialists and those hired under contracts.
If new equipment is purchased, employees go to the construction site, get acquainted with it, and carefully study the technical documentation. This was also the case in 2014, when Herrenknecht tunneling shields appeared. The classes were conducted jointly with German engineers. To teach effectively, you must first learn yourself.
The list of educational programs is expanded every year. Now the school faces a serious task - to open distance learning for specialists in occupational safety, fire safety and technical minimums, etc. The school is constantly supported by Mosmetrostroy director Sergei Zhukov and his deputies.
– What would you wish your colleagues on their anniversary?
– First of all, new interesting projects. If the company has orders, that means we will have someone to train. Over ten years of working as the director of the Technical School, I have become fused with Metrostroy and want us to develop together, benefiting the city and the country.
FACT
During the construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline, a branch of the Mosmetrostroy Technical School was opened in the village of Nizhneangarsk, which in 1979–1984 trained more than 6.5 thousand specialists for the construction of the BAM.