Sber’s “Summer Digital School” Now Operates Year-Round
Sber is transitioning its professional development program for educators – the Summer Digital School – to a year‑round format, with plans to increase enrollment to 4,000 participants in 2026, twice as many as in 2025.
No More Breaks
Sber’s largest training school will now teach educators continuously. This decision gives teachers a stable, uninterrupted learning platform they can access when they truly need it rather than when the academic calendar allows.
In 2026, enrollment will grow to four thousand participants – twice as many as the previous year. For a program that has trained more than 8,400 educators across all Russian regions in six years and received over 27,000 applications, such scaling is a logical step in its development. Through its graduates, the school already indirectly impacts more than one million students – a number that will continue to grow.
The new model also expands learning formats: online courses at SberUniversity, in‑person classes and ready‑made materials that can be integrated directly into teaching. The core emphasis, however, is on artificial intelligence: educators will have modules on data science, machine learning, product design, soft skills and the use of modern AI tools, including analyses of real business cases.
From IT to the Arts
The year‑round school may become a model for universities seeking new approaches to workforce training. Other higher‑education institutions and colleges may adopt continuous professional‑development practices that combine online, offline and ready‑to‑use instructional modules.
AI competencies acquired by teachers can spread into academic programs far removed from technology. This creates a chain‑reaction effect: knowledge and skills once accessible only in IT specializations are gradually becoming the norm across many disciplines – from humanities to creative fields.
The model also has international potential. If the system proves sustainable and replicable, it may be in demand in countries where universities need to quickly train instructors in modern digital skills. Much will depend on content quality and the program’s adaptability to different educational environments.
AI Skills as the New Must‑Have
Interest in AI skills and digital competencies may seem obvious today, but its roots lie in the rapid growth of the online‑education segment in recent years. Russian EdTech has experienced significant expansion: commercial online schools focused on data science, programming and analytics have evolved from niche projects into full‑scale educational platforms with large audiences. Their popularity has shown that digital professions are becoming central in the labor market, while flexible learning formats offer a real alternative to traditional university classrooms
Against this backdrop, the global trend toward massive open online courses has intensified: MOOC platforms have proven that quality education can be accessible, flexible and mobile. The COVID‑19 pandemic only accelerated this shift – remote formats stopped being a temporary necessity and became a tool for continuous professional growth.
At the same time, teacher retraining has strengthened as a field. Research indicates that virtual learning environments and hybrid models enable educators to learn more effectively – to work with interactive materials, return to lessons at convenient times and master content at their own pace.
Amid these changes, Sber’s year‑round school appears as a natural continuation of a global shift: education is moving beyond semesters, schedules and rigid methodological cycles. Professional development becomes a process without pauses – as dynamic and responsive as the technologies educators now learn to use.
With a Pace of Change
The transition to a year‑round schedule is a natural response to the rising pace of technological change. Educators today need to update their knowledge regularly rather than once every several years, and the new learning model addresses this need.
A blend of technical competencies, soft skills, product thinking and modern approaches to sustainable development gives teachers a broader professional field. They move beyond traditional roles and become conduits of practical knowledge that drives today’s economy.
For Sber, this project is not merely an educational initiative but a way to build trusted partnerships with universities by sharing its expertise and helping modernize teaching approaches. It is exactly this combination of methodological depth, applied tools and open knowledge exchange that creates the value of the year‑round digital school – a platform that not only teaches but also moves education forward.
