Education in Russia

Citizens of Russia have the right to education which is guaranteed by the Constitution RF. But it is not only a right, it is a duty, too. Every boy and every girl in Russia must go to school, that is they must get a secondary education.

In the Russian Federation, all educational programmes are of two types:

· general education;

· professional education.

General education is aimed at the intellectual, moral, emotional, and physical development of the individual; at shaping his or her general cultural level; at developing his or her ability to adapt himself or herself to life in society.
General education comprises:

· pre-school education;

· primary general education;

· basic general education;

· secondary (complete) general education.

Professional education is aimed at the continued development of an individual in the process of which he or she acquires a professional qualification and at the preparation of graduates to exercise a profession. Thus professional education covers the following:

· vocational education (nachalnoe professionalnoe obrazovanie);

· non-university level higher education (srednee professionalnoe obrazovanie);

· university level higher education (vysshee professionalnoe obrazovanie);

· postgraduate education including doctoral study programmes (poslevuzovskoe professionalnoe obrazovanie).

General education programmes now comprise eleven years of studies. So students normally finish secondary (complete) general education at the age of 17.

There are different levels of education in our country: pre-school, primary, secondary and a higher one.

Originally Russian education starts from the early age. Pre-school education comprises nurseries and kindergartens. Children there are looked after by professional nannies and educators. Children can start going to kindergarten approximately from the age of two. Often they are taught to read, write and count. But pre-school education isn't compulsory: it depends on parents’ decision and child’s wish to attend this institution, children can get it at home.

However, school is mandatory. Mandatory education in Russia is presented by three kinds of schools: primary (grades 1-4), secondary (grades 5-9) and high (grades 10-11).

All schools begin with primary education. Every child starts going to school from the age of 6 or 7, depending on individual development of each child. They visit the primary school for four years. The children get there the elementary education: it means they learn to count, to read and to write. In the most schools the children also learn a foreign language beginning from the second grade. Children of primary classes are normally separated from other classes within their own floor of a school building. They are taught, ideally, by a single teacher through all four grades (except for physical training, foreign languages, sometimes- music and painting).

The fifth grade means the beginning of the secondary education. At this stage the children learn the basic laws of nature and society at the subjects of Biology, Geography, Chemistry, Algebra, Physics, Computing, History, Literature and many other new subjects. This is the time when children learning Basic safety. Also they have three lessons of physical training weekly because the great attention is paid to the physical development of pupils. From next year pupils of the fifth grades will begin to study a second foreign language additionally.

In Russia the nine-year basic incomplete secondary education is compulsory. On the completion of basic general education (a nine-year programme), students take final examinations (the procedure is called the State final attestation) and are awarded, if they pass, the Certificate of Basic General Education.

At the 9th grade children face a very important period in their life. At first, after 9th form pupils have to sit for examinations. After that the children have to decide what they will do from now forth. On the one hand, they can continue their schooling and get the complete eleven-year secondary education (high school; grades 10 and 11). On the other hand, they can enter a college giving them the complete secondary education and trade training (for example, they can get the profession of electrician, driver, plumber, computer operator). After graduating from college the young people became financially independent and can start to work.

If pupils finish a secondary school successfully, they get a secondary education certificate. It gives them an opportunity to enter a university or an academy which are the institutions of a higher education.

Unified State Exam is an exam in the Russian Federation that EVERY student must pass after graduation from school in order to enter a university or a professional college. Since 2009, EGE is the ONLY form of graduation examination in schools and the main form of preliminary examinations for universities.

All students must pass the EGE for mathematics and the Russian language and can take two additional subject exams in:

· Foreign languages (English, German, French, Spanish)

· Physics

· Chemistry

· Biology

· Geography

· Literature

· History

· Introduction to social sciences and computing sciences.

High school graduates are allowed to take EGE examinations only if they have no unsatisfactory final grades. The exams are free of charge and are offered in May and June.

Currently there are different types of schools in Russia. The children and their parents can choose: a general secondary schools, schools specializing in a certain subject, high schools, gymnasiums, lyceums, a private school.

The majority of pupils go to secondary schools. As a rule, a child attends the school located in the neighborhood, so mostly there are no school buses in Russia. The official name of general education schools is the Secondary General School.

During the last years, new types of schools called “gymnasium” and “lyceum”, and so-called "special" schools, that can be state and private, were set up. Their educational programmes can be more advanced. They offering more in-depth studies of the major European languages (English , French, or German), or the advanced courses in physics and mathematics, in technical or natural-scientific subjects.

The first private schools , gymnasiums and lycees, have already been founded in Moscow and St. Petersburg , in an attempt to revive the imperial traditions of Russian educational system with its high standards of excellence.

Education in Russian has until recently been free on all levels. Tuition in most of schools is free of charge, but some new types of schools are fee-paying. Private schools in Russia are always fee-paying.

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 2203