7:00pm Dinner - Ian McKellar

This evening, we had a talk from Mr Ian McKellar, a lecturer in education training new teachers.  His own specialism is history and he has been travelling to Russia regularly since 1996 to assist teachers there in revising and updating their own history and teaching techniques from the teachings of the old communist regime to a more accurate version of events.  His talk was accompanied by a slideshow of photographs he had taken during his visits showing just how far the former Soviet Union still has to come to achieve not only the educational standards of the West but also the living standards.  We are grateful to Ian for this insight into a country and culture which, in many ways, is still quite secretive.