Education

System of
Russia
By Jennifer L. Masoa
Chapters
o The teacher and teaching
method
o Educational Content
o Learning Environment
o School Management
o Pre-conditions for pupils
o Funding and Organization
o Unique/Best Practices
The teacher and teaching method
Teacher training in Russia takes
place both in post-secondary
vocational education and the
tertiary education sector. Pre-
school and elementary school
teachers are commonly trained at
pedagogical colleges. Secondary
school teachers, on the other
hand, are taught at universities
and training institutes.
The result of the revolutionary destabilization of state and society, the schools
were decentralized and liberated from the state far beyond what was expected
or desired by the early reformers. While it was true that teachers were now
free to teach as they pleased, they also lived for months without their salaries.
Schools were free to implement whatever programs and innovations they
wanted, but they were forced to seek the means for their survival without
expecting much from the federal or local budgets.
Changes in the way students are taught,
curricula and methods, and demands for
greater accountability via high-stakes
exams are all part of this new
environment. A serious consequence is a
shift away from a traditional 'craft'
approach to teaching and towards a
model inspired by scientific and
technical training. This means less focus
on 'teaching the whole child' or 'working
with kids' and more emphasis on being
able to make precise diagnoses of
learning problems.
Educational Content
Most Russian schools
incorporate all stages of general
education, from elementary to
upper-secondary. There are a
number of schools that only
provide elementary or lower-
secondary education. Evening
schools, known as "schools for
working youth" in Soviet times,
were also open to adults who
want to further their education.
Some types of schools offer
curricular specializations and are
more selective. These include
lyceums, gymnasiums, and schools
for the gifted and talented. Lyceums
offer specialized programs in a
variety of disciplines, including
sciences, mathematics, or law.
Gymnasiums focus on education in
the humanities, including the study
of two foreign languages.
Learning Environment
The school year in Russia begins in
September and ends at the end of June.
The grading system in Russia is a system
of numbers ranging from a two to a five.
The grading system is as follows: five is
excellent, four is good, three is
satisfactory, and two is unsatisfactory.
The language used to educate Russian
students is strictly Russian.
The culture of the school is
notoriously resistant to change from
the soviet style and many scholars
insist that schools are more likely to
reproduce than they are to transform
society. So, it should come as no
surprise that the reform movement in
education has encountered obstacles
and resistance in its path. Such
difficulties were only made worse by
the economic decline and social
turmoil that followed the fall of the
Soviet Union.
School Management
The Ministry of Education oversees
schooling and school accreditation,
the establishment, maintenance, and
closures of state schools. It provides
the procedural guidelines for
communications between schools,
parents, legal guardians, and
students. It is headquartered at
Tverskaya Street 11 in Tverskoy
District, Central Administrative
Okrug, Moscow.
The Ministry of Education was
established on 17 May 2018 after the
Ministry of Education and Science was
split into two parts, with the departments
for universities and scientific institutions
forming the Ministry of Science and
Higher Education. Its first minister was
Olga Vasilieva, the minister of the
previous ministry. The name of the
Ministry of Education is sometimes
translated into English as the "Ministry
of Enlightenment" or "Ministry of
General Education."
School leadership normally is the
responsibility of a principal or head who
may work either relatively independently
or under tightly defined rules mandated
by a central school board or
administration. Studies in American
education have pointed again and again
to the value of clarity of purpose for this
role, as well as to the ability to
communicate that purpose effectively to
students, teachers, and parents, and to
organize the activities of the school to
make achievement of that purpose more
likely.
School management in Russia is a continuous
attempts to turn to a law-governed system from
administrative-command system developed
during the Soviet era. This means the practice
of negotiation and adjudication, and to develop
transparent procedures and budgets, have had to
come to grips with the lingering command
culture and its remaining personnel. Programs
have been set up with western aid to teach more
flexible management approaches. Gradually,
agreements are being reached between Moscow,
the regions, and municipalities to share
authority in decision making, and various
collegial bodies have been established for
resolving issues among the various authorities
At the local level, the school boards
created in the early stages of reform have
not proven their viability, but school
principals undoubtedly enjoy more
autonomy than before. As for alternative
education, private schools, gymnasiums,
and the like have clearly established a
foothold in Russian education but still
account for only 1–2 per cent of all
schools. The 1992 law endorsed a limited
privatization of education facilities and
provided for setting up state-subsidized
experimental schools. Reformers also
flirted with the notion of vouchers..
Pre-conditions for pupils
Russian children enter elementary
education at six to seven years of age.
This stage of education lasts four years
and includes instruction in the subjects of
Russian language (reading, writing,
literature), mathematics, history, natural
sciences, arts and crafts, physical
education, and a foreign language
starting in grade two. Most classes are
taught by one primary class teacher for
the whole duration of the elementary
cycle, although subjects like foreign
language, physical education, music, or
arts may be taught by specialized
teachers.
Funding and Organization
While higher education in Russia is predominantly state-funded, the percentage of private
funding – about 35 percent of all expenditures on tertiary educations institutions in 2013 – is
relatively high compared to most OECD countries. Governments at the federal and local level
provide large parts of public university budgets and provide premises, dormitories, and other
properties. Recent legal changes have also allowed private universities to apply for state
funding, if to a lesser extent. However, the share of university funding coming from tuition
fees has increased over the past decades; between 1995 and 2005, for instance, the percentage
of students paying tuition fees increased from 13.1 to 57.5 percent.
Federal Law №273 on education (2012)
provides the core legal framework for the
Russian education system. The Federal
Ministry of Education is the executive
body responsible for the formulation and
implementation of education policies at
all levels. Under its purview is the
Federal Education and Science
Supervision Agency, which is tasked
with the supervision and quality control
of educational institutions. Regional
Ministries of Education are responsible
for policy implementation at the local
level.
Unique/Best Practices
Since mid 2000’s, Russia is integrating
ICT to education. Each student receives a
notebook at his or her desk and works
with it as necessary during the lesson.
When lessons end, all the notebooks are
cleared away to be recharged on special
carts. Lessons in primary schools end at
around noon, after which the students
can either stay in an ‘extended-day
group’, go home or go to another class
for additional lessons in a group related
to a specific interest.