Russia

Russia in a nutshell

Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country extending over much of northern Eurasia. It is a semi-presidential republic comprising 83 federal subjects. At 17,075,400 square kilometers, Russia is the largest country in the world, covering more than an eighth of the Earth’s land area; with 142 million people, it is the ninth largest by population. It extends across the whole of northern Asia and 40 % of Europe, spanning 11 time zones and incorporating a great range of environments and landforms.

Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Atlas_of_Russia

Russia established worldwide power and influence from the times of the Russian Empire to being the largest and leading constituent of the Soviet Union, the world's first and largest constitutionally socialist state and a recognized superpower. The nation can boast a long tradition of excellence in every aspect of the arts and sciences. The Russian Federation was founded following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, but is recognized as the continuing legal personality of the Soviet Union. Russia has one of the world's fastest growing major economies.

Though Russia's population is comparatively large, its population density is low because of the country's enormous size. Population is densest in European Russia, near the Ural Mountains, and in southwest Siberia. 73 % of the population lives in urban areas. As of the 2002 Census, the two largest cities in Russia are Moscow (10,126,424 inhabitants) and Saint Petersburg (4,661,219). Eleven other cities have between one and two million inhabitants. Moscow is also the capital of Russia.

Russia's 160 ethnic groups speak some 100 languages. According to the 2002 Census, 142.6 million people speak Russian, followed by Tatar with 5.3 million and German with 2.9 million speakers. Russian is the only official state language, but the Constitution gives the individual republics the right to make their native language co-official next to Russian. Over a quarter of the world's scientific literature is published in Russian. Russian is also applied as a means of coding and storage of universal knowledge – 60 – 70 % of all world information is published in English and Russian languages.

Russian education policy

The literacy rate in Russia is currently 99.4 %. All citizens are guaranteed free education by the Constitution. Entry to higher education is highly competitive. As a result of great emphasis on science and technology in education, Russian medical, mathematical, scientific, and space and aviation research is generally of a high order. The main task of modern education policy in Russia is the thorough modernization of the education system, which was built during the Soviet period.

Russian education system

The Russian education system can be divided into four major groups: primary education, secondary education, higher education and post-graduate education.

Secondary education

Secondary education in Russia takes eleven years to complete. After graduation from the 9th grade, which is compulsory for all Russian citizens, a pupil obtains a Certificate of Basic General Education (equivalent to O-Level). After that he/she has to choose one of the following ways to complete his/her secondary education: continue education for two more years at the secondary school to pursue a Certificate of Complete Secondary Education (equivalent to A-Level) or to pursue an associate degree at a tradesmen school or a college, which usually takes three years to complete.

University

After obtaining a Certificate of Complete Secondary Education a student can enter a university or an institute (college). He/she can choose a program of higher education with the duration of four to six years. There are three different degrees that are conferred by Russian universities. The first degree is the Bakalavr (Bachelor) degree. Bakalvr's programs last for at least 4 years of full-time university-level study. The programs are elaborated in accordance with the State Educational Standards, which regulate almost 80 % of their content. The other 20 % are elaborated by the university itself. The programs include professional and special courses in Science, Humanities and Social-economic disciplines, professional training, completion of a research paper/project and passing State final exams. The Bakalavr's degree is awarded in all fields except Medicine after defending a Diploma project prepared under the guidance of a supervisor and passing the final exams. In Medicine, the first stage lasts for six years.

Holders of the Bakalavr degree are admitted to enter the Specialist Diploma and Magistr's (Master's) degree programs. The Magistr's degree is awarded after successful completion of two years' full-time study. Students must carry out a year of research including practice and prepare and defend a thesis which constitutes an original contribution and sit for final examinations. Both Bakalavr's and Magistr's degrees were introduced relatively recently; they did not exist during the Soviet period. (Wikipedia)

Post-graduate levels

After obtaining a Specialist's or Master's Degree a student may enter a university or a scientific institute to pursue post-graduate education. The first level of post-graduate education is aspirantura that usually results in the Kandidat nauk degree (Candidate of Sciences). The seeker should pass three exams (in his/her special field, in a foreign language of his/her choice, and in history and philosophy of science), publish at least three scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals, write a dissertation and defend it. This degree is roughly equivalent to the Ph.D. in the United States.

After graduation a student may continue postgraduate education. After several (2 – 4) years of study in doctorantura, if they obtain important scientific results, publish them and write another thesis, the Doctor Nauk degree (Doctor of Sciences) can be awarded. The average time between obtaining Kandidat and Doctor degrees is roughly 10 years. Only 1 in 4 Kandidats reaches this grade. Granting of advanced degrees is overseen by the Higher Attestation Commission of the Ministry of Education and Science.

Higher education in Russia

The Russian education system was originally inherited from the Soviet Union without any significant changes. In the Soviet Union, the education of all levels was free for anybody who could pass entrance exams; students were provided with small scholarships and free housing. This was considered crucial because it provided access to higher education to all skilled students, as opposed to only those who could afford it. Free higher education is the main reason why more than 20 % of Russians aged 30–59 hold six-year degrees.

The downside of that system was that institutions had to be funded entirely from the federal and regional budgets; therefore, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, expenditures on education took a big blow; institutions found themselves unable to provide adequate teachers' salaries, students' scholarships, and maintenance for their facilities. To address the issue, many state institutions started to open commercial positions. The number of those positions has been growing steadily since then. Many private higher education institutions have emerged, mostly in the fields where Soviet system was inadequate or was unable to provide enough specialists for post-Soviet realities, such as economics, business/management, and law. In 2004, 35 % of all first-year students were paying for their own education in state institutions and 20 % were enrolled in private universities.

Today, the country has 685 governmental higher education institutions, all of these having state accreditation. Besides, 619 non-governmental higher education institutions have been licensed for educational activities, 367 of these having been given accreditation in the past decade. Thus, the number of higher education institutions is 1,304 (1,162 of which are accredited). In 2003–2004, the total number of students in higher education institutions was 5,947,500, including 5,228,700 and 718,800 in governmental and non-governmental education institutions respectively.

The composition of Russian students is also becoming more and more homogeneous. Foreign students (including students from countries of the CIS and the Baltic countries), educated in state and municipal HEIs, make up less than 2% of the total. The number of students from different countries accepted and graduated varies depending on the character of political and economic relations between Russia and other countries, and on the presence or absence of bilateral special agreements between the countries.

Higher education reform

The tertiary education system in Russia is being modernized and developed within the context of social, cultural and economic changes taken place in the country since early 1990s. However, it can be stated that the importance of individual, uniquely Russian factors for change is gradually falling, as trends typical for the majority of countries in the developing world are becoming dominant.

The modernization of the tertiary education system includes the following tasks: facilitation of cooperation between universities and local communities, active participation of HEIs in regional development, closer liaison with the business community, increased financial stability in HEIs and the creation of a transparent quality assessment system compatible with and comparable to the international systems. The goals of internationalization of tertiary education and integration into the European and world education areas facilitate the modernization of tertiary education system.

Since 1985 some proposals for restructuring the Russian educational system in accordance with the U.S. educational system have also been made. Nevertheless, these proposals have been discarded as retrogressive. Instead, much more interest has been shown in adopting the proposed international standards of the Bologna Process.

The Russian Federation officially joined the Bologna Process in 2003. As a result, the country has taken certain national responsibilities to strengthen the convergence and transparency of its HE qualification structures, to resolve the problem of transfer and weighing of academic credits, and to improve its quality assurance system, thereby increasing international academic mobility and graduate employability. Some of the Bologna reforms were initiated already before Russia officially joined the Bologna Process. However, the empirical data show that the process of implementing the Bologna principles in Russian HEIs is still rather slow, because relevant legislation and financial support is lagging behind.

Administration and finance

The changes that took place in the economic and political life in Russia in the last 10 – 15 years have had an enormous impact on the higher education system, including its resource base. The positive trends in recent years include a major growth in the volume of state funds allocated to the higher education sector, and the development of new sources of HEI funding.

In Russia, there are two different institutional types of higher education structures: state (municipal) and private HEIs. The sources of financing differ greatly. The main difference in the system of sources of funding for state and private HEIs is that for the first time on a regular basis (annually), funds from the budget (mainly the federal budget) are received in the form of so-called budgetary appropriations. Private HEIs do not have the right to receive such funding. This factor is fundamental for understanding the differences between the financial positions of these two types of HEIs, as budget financing for state HEIs usually amounts to 30 % or more of the operating income.

Quality assurance

State assessment of quality assurance in education consists of three stages: licensing, attestation and accreditation, which have been consolidated into a single comprehensive assessment procedure since 2000. Currently adopted amendments to the RF Law 'On Education' have unified (merged) present procedures of attestation and state accreditation.

Licensing is the assessment of compliance of the conditions of educational activity with state requirements for academic classrooms, laboratory equipment, the level of teaching staff and academic literature. Licensing includes the review of documents and the performance of external expert reviews, including field visits by committees. Given positive results of the licensing process, a HEI receives a license: a document of permission granting the right to perform educational activity and receive eligibility for tax concessions.

Attestation, in turn, is the assessment of the compliance of content, the level and quality of the training of graduates with the requirements of state educational standards, the identification of trends in the development of the academic process and methods of overcoming negative trends. Finally, accreditation is the establishment (confirmation for a consecutive term) of the state-accredited status of a HEI by type (higher education institution) and form (institute, academy or university) with the establishment of a list of educational programs in which the HEI has the right to issue national diplomas.

Based on the results of state accreditation, an HEI receives a diploma of state accreditation, including a list of accredited programs and the period of accreditation. Information about accredited HEIs and programs is published in an official registry, in an annual directory. The National Accreditation Agency, established by the Ministry of Education in 1995, supports the higher education institutions, the educational establishments of vocational training, and the educational authorities of Russia in carrying out their state accreditation procedures.

No HEI has the right to commence operations without the receipt of a license issued by the Federal Service. Each license must be confirmed every five years. The first attestation of a new HEI may be conducted upon application, three years after the receipt of a license, on condition of the successful graduation of the first group of students. Attestation is also performed once every five years. Passing the procedures of attestation of educational programs and accreditation of HEIs (once every 5 years) is mandatory for all state HEIs. Non-state HEIs are subject to these procedures only if they are applying for the right to issue national diplomas.

References

• The Ministry of Education and Science & The State University - Higher School of Economics (2007)

OECD Thematic Review of Tertiary Education – Country Background Report for the Russian Federation.

• Shumilova, Yulia (2007)

Implementation of the Bologna Process in Russia: Tomsk Polytechnic University as a case model. A thesis submitted to the Department of Management Studies at University of Tampere.

Relevant websites

• Wikipedia

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