On December 08, 2016 at the opening of the II all-Russian forum “the national system of qualifications in Russia” the Minister of education and science Olga Vasilieva announced that one of the most important tasks of the Department is the introduction of the demo exam in professional education institutions. This exam is a model of the real situation on the production, and the results will show how an Intern learned about the educational programme. Another important task in the field of secondary vocational education is introduction of Federal state educational standards.
Federal state educational standards – requirements for educational institutions that have passed state accreditation, to be observed in implementing for public education programs. These standards ensure the unity of the educational system of the Russian Federation, in the continuity of the primary, general, secondary, vocational and higher education.
Among 686 existing programs of secondary vocational education only 129 are up to standards.
About the possible introduction of demonstration examinations for graduates of vocational education institutions was already reported in March 2016. The Director of the Department of state policy in the field of vocational training and further professional education, Natalia Zolotareva previously told: “We are changing current practice, when the results of the study mean written diploma thesis or a theoretical exam. Yes, the theoretical part is necessary, but not less necessarily is that student must demonstrate if he is fitted for requirements of a great specialist of international level”.
In the first place, the qualification will be introduced for the 50 most popular occupations approved by the Ministry of Labour of the Russian Federation. Among these professions: car mechanic, graphic designer, technician industrial equipment, hairdresser, pastry chef, tiler-facing worker, system administrator, specialist at information resources, mechanic, etc.
Some colleges have already started to practice demo exams, and the preparation of teachers for the system’s new standards for the 50 most popular occupations began this year. In 2016 will be trained 100 teachers and Deputy Directors of these institutions; in 2017 this number will increase to 500 people. Upon completion of training, listeners will receive a certificate of training.
Today in Russia there is a trend to increase the proportion of graduates who choose vocational education. So, the main expert of Institute of education Higher school of Economics Theodore Dudyrev said: “now the number of College students is comparable to the University – about 3 million people. The secondary and higher vocational education show the parity at 50% to 50%”.
One of the major challenges to development Institute of the system can be a lack of interest of the institutions themselves. As noted in the government strategy “the Development of education for 2013-2020”, “…standards implemented in secondary vocational education in Russia, provide for greater autonomy of educational institutions, the possibility of individualization. However, these new opportunities are underutilized primarily due to lack of incentives to improve quality. Part of the vocational education system remains closed to its major customers.”
It is possible to understand the lack of interest: training – activities are complex and requirements are big, the salary small, and in addition to the salary there are also precarious academic things, lack of equipment and machinery and so on. For this reason, the state does not ignore the question of funding: in 2016-2020 on the development of the state program “Development of professional education” is planned to allocate 4.1 trillion rubles.
Sources: Russian ministry of education, MK.RU, Russian ministry of education, ТАСС, Russian ministry of education, Russian ministry of education, Russian ministry of labour
