Педагогические науки/1. Стратегические направления

реформирования системы образования

Порожняк Н.Ф., Борозненко И.Г.

Южно-российский государственный университет экономики и сервиса, Россия

Reforming Russia’s education system

In the Russian federation reforming of education system has already begun. Changes will touch all levels of the education. The society perceives transformations skeptically. What are the reasons of it? To answer this question necessary to find purposes and an essence of reforms.

What are the reasons of reforming education? The education has ceased to be public after disintegration of the USSR. Over the post–reform period nation’s academic community has done much to maintain the best in the system of education, passed over to us by many preceding generations of educationalists, but update it according to the growth needs, present–day requirements and future prospects.

Higher education access was closed to university entrants from needy families and others unprotected social groups of population. Access to higher education was closed to university entrants from needy families and others unprotected social groups of population. Many students wishing to enter a university need additional preparation to gain admission. Only one-third of students are estimated to enter university relying only on the knowledge acquired in school. Another one-third take special preparatory courses. Others either hire private tutors or educate themselves. The cost of preparing for entrance examination is a heavy economic burden for Russian students and their families. In addition, enormous monetary resources circulate at an illegal level of educational sphere (means for tutors, bribes and examination commission’s gifts). As a result quality of education goes down. It ceased to be a source of a social and a material inequality in society.

Thus primary purposes of reforms are:

- overcoming of the imparity in the access to higher education

- implementation of the educational system modernization

- reforming of the higher education system in accordance with the Bologna Declaration.

What have done for it? First of all it is the introduction of a single state examination. It began as an experiment in 2001 and caused a sharp polemics. Society divided into supporters and opponents of this examination. Supporters consider that testing assesses knowledge objectively and level of corruption decreased in universities. Opponents assert that the examination caused an increase corruption at schools. There were some scandals in some regions in 2010. Therefore question about necessity of a single state examination is open.

One more innovation is the transition to per capita funding of general educational institutions and creation of new models and types of schools. Therefore system of receipt of finances will become transparent. Institutions of primary professional education will function at this principle too. This modernization caused a lot of question, it is difficult for understanding and it has not completed yet.

The Russian Federation joined to the Bologna Process on September, 2003. Therefore reforming of the system of higher education has begun. It involves the development of educational programs which correspond to the European programs (a credit unit, a transformation of university structure, a duplex system of training of students (master-bachelor)). There are two types of diploma (degrees) which are officially recognized as ones of completed higher education - these are diploma of specialist and diploma of a Master level. The Bachelor diploma and the certificate of higher education are not regarded as high education degrees. In some cases a bachelor degree suffices to start a career. Anyway bachelors (or undergraduates) are not allowed to take positions were higher education is necessary by labor law or by custom, they can't get the research degree of Candidate of Sciences, male graduates are drafted as soldiers and must serve for two years while specialists and magistrs have half a year shorter conscription period. Many graduates cannot find a proper job to work as professionals, or become unemployed. Professionals with an advanced degree have better chances to find a proper job than bachelors who are considered undereducated by most employers.

What conclusions can we make? Certainly we need a new educational system, but reforms should not force. The state should listen to a society. Reform requires creating conditions for change. It needs to be comprehensive in the sense of addressing all aspects of the system. Reform depends on changing existing curricula from kindergarten through high school. The changes need to be compatible lest they cancel each other out. In addition it is necessary to create a literate balanced program of the modernization of education. Only them it will possible to reach purposes of reforms. It is necessary to create a literate balanced program of the modernization of education. And then it will be possible to reach our purposes.