Education in Russia is provided predominantly by the state and is regulated by the federal Ministry of Education. Regional authorities regulate education within their jurisdictons within the prevailing framework of federal laws. In 2004 state spending for education amounted to 3.6% of GDP, or 13% of consolidated state budget.[1] Private institutions account for 1% of pre-school enrollment,[2] 0.5% of elementary school enrollment[3] and 17% of university-level students.[4]
In September 2007 Russia upgraded its compulsory education standard from nine to eleven years.[5] Education in state-owned secondary schools is free; first tertiary (university level) education is free with reservations: a substantial share of students is enrolled for full pay. Male and female students have nearly equal shares in all stages of education,[6] except tertiary education where women lead with 57%.[7]
The literacy rate in Russia, according to the 2002 census, is 99.4% (99.7% men, 99.2% women).[8] 16.0% of population over 15 years of age (17.6 million) have tertiary (undergradute level or higher) education; 47.7% have completed secondary education (10 or 11 years); 26.5% have completed middle school (8 or 9 years) and 8.1% have elementary education. Highest rates of tertiary education, 24.7% are recorded among women aged 35-39 years (compared to 19.5% for men of the same age bracket).[9]
Education System in Russia
- Russian educational system
- Pre-school education
- Secondary school
- Education for the disabled
- Tertiary (university level) education
- Traditional model
- Move towards Bologna Process
Move towards Bologna Process
Russia is in the process of migrating from its traditional tertiary education model, incompatible with existing Western academic degrees, to a modernized degree structure in line with Bologna Process model (Russia co-signed the Bologna Declaration in 2003). In October 2007 Russia enacted law that replaces traditional five-year model of education to two tiers: a four-year bachelor (Russian: бакалавр) degree followed by a two-year master’s (Russian: магистр) degree.[55]
The move is criticized for a formal approach: instead of reshaping their curriculum, the universities would simply insert a BSc accreditation in the middle of their standard five or six-year programs. Labor market is generally unaware of the change; critics expect that standalone BSc diplomas will not be recognized as “real” university education in the foreseeable future, thus making them an unnecessary and undesirable stage. Institutions like MFTI or MIFI practiced two-tier breakdown of their specialist programs for decades and switched to Bologna process designations well in advance of the 2007 law, but absolute majority of their students complete all six years of MS (formerly specialist) curriculum, regarding BS stage as useless in real life.[56]
Student mobility between universities has been traditionally discouraged and thus kept at very low level; there are no signs that formal acceptance of Bologna process will help students in seeking better education. Finally, while the five-year specialist training was free to students, MS stage is not. The novelty forces students to pay for what was free to the previous class; the cost in unavoidable because BSc degree alone is useless.[56] Defenders of Bologna process argue that it were, in fact, the final years of the specialist program that were formal and useless: the academic schedules were relaxed and undemanding, allowing students to work elsewhere. Cutting the five-year specialist program to a four-year BSc will not decrease actual academic content of most of these programs.[56]
- Post-graduate levels
- More Information
- EuroEducation.net
- References
- Footnotes
