The Ministry of Education and Science will allow reducing the period of study at a university for graduates of specialized colleges
[ad_1]
The Ministry of Education and Science will allow shortening the period of study at a university for graduates of specialized colleges. The department plans to include this provision “taking into account current practice” into the updated federal state standards of higher education (FSES). Experts interviewed by Kommersant say that the innovation will help accelerate the influx of new personnel into the real sector of the economy, but shortened training is not suitable for all specialties.
The Ministry of Education and Science announced that in the new generation of the Federal State Educational Standards of higher education, a provision may appear on a reduced time of study at universities for graduates of specialized colleges. Previously, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave such an instruction following a meeting of the State Council Presidium on September 21, 2023.
“The issue of including a provision on reducing the duration of study at universities for college graduates in Federal State Educational Standards-4 is currently being studied taking into account current practice,” the Ministry of Education and Science reported in response to a request from Kommersant. The department clarified that the legislation now makes it possible to reduce the duration of study at universities, taking into account disciplines, modules and practices previously mastered in other educational organizations – including secondary vocational education (SVE).
In particular, Russian State University of Justice already offers shortened training for graduates of its own secondary vocational education programs. At the same time, college graduates enter the university through internal exams. The university told Kommersant that it is guided by a joint by order Ministry of Education and Science and Ministry of Education No. 845/369 of 2020, as well as the current Federal State Educational Standard.
Rector State University of Management (SUM) Vladimir Stroev confirms: graduates with a secondary vocational education diploma can already now receive higher education in a number of universities under an accelerated program. “As a rule, they do not apply according to the Unified State Exam, but according to entrance tests that the university develops independently. The number of disciplines that such an applicant must pass is also determined by the university independently. But they still enroll in the first year. This rule is common for all forms of education: full-time, evening and correspondence,” explains the rector. “Acceleration of learning occurs through the transfer of disciplines studied in college. Thus, at the State University of Education, such full-time students had their terms reduced by 1 year, and for part-time students – by 1.5 years.” Mr. Stroev added that it is possible to count the assessment of studying some disciplines if the forms of certification are the same (exam, test, course project or course work).
Kommersant asked the Ministry of Education and Science to explain why, in this case, additional state regulation of current practices is needed.
“The decision will consolidate good practice at the regulatory level,” the ministry said, adding that “in the process of developing specific formulations, other innovations may appear, but it is too early to talk about them in detail.”
Deputy Director of the Institute of Education at the National Research University Higher School of Economics Ilya Korshunov believes that the initiative is dictated by the economic situation: “Now there is a decrease in the number of people employed in the economy among young people, and this is one of the most active and promising groups.” He notes that the initiative will allow college graduates to enter the labor market earlier, and in the future they will be able to improve their skills: “Now life expectancy is increasing, so it is necessary to learn and update your skills regardless of the level of education.”
Head of the Department of Educational Psychology at Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Tatyana Egorenko, believes that the mechanism can become popular among graduates of pedagogical colleges: “They will be able to go to work, combining teaching with studying at a university. In addition, while working, they may have professional questions, the answers to which they will receive at the university.”
Mrs. Egorenko suggests that shortened training may partially solve the problem of shortage of teaching staff.
“My experience of communicating with teachers who have already studied under a similar scheme shows that they are qualified specialists. So this initiative will be received positively in the teaching community,” she believes.
Rector of MPGU Alexey Lubkov adds: there used to be a practice when graduates of teacher training colleges entered the university immediately in the third year, taking into account the re-credited disciplines – and there were even separate study groups for them. “Pedagogical colleges constantly raise the question of returning to the previous order, and for a university such an organization of education is understandable and familiar,” the rector notes. “Perhaps its return will make the process more understandable, organized, and differentiated.”
Nevertheless, Kommersant’s interlocutors warn that the idea of shortened education is not suitable for all specialties.
“If specialized colleges appear that will train engineers with enhanced physics and mathematics training, that will be wonderful. But even after them, you still have to go to the first year,” believes Sergei Negodyaev, director of the MIPT Physics and Technology School of Aerospace Technologies. “The fact is that in the first years of any technical university, higher mathematics, general physics, theoretical mechanics, fundamentals of engineering design. And in colleges, the level of teaching of these disciplines will be designed for 9th grade graduates, which is significantly lower than any university.” His colleague, director of the Physics and Technology School of Electronics, Photonics and Molecular Physics at MIPT Andrei Baturin also believes that shortened training cannot be a good idea for serious technical specialties: “In Physics and Technology, even for those who come from other universities, the practice of transferring from loss of the year.”
Director of Development and Research at Profilum (developer of digital services for career guidance and labor market analytics), Vitaly Altukhov, recalls that the popularity of colleges is growing in Russia. In his opinion, this is largely due to the so-called transit trajectory – when you can go to college without the Unified State Exam, and then also enter a university without a state exam. “According to various estimates, from 20 to 30% of those entering college chose this path,” says the expert. However, now a number of universities may need to take the Unified State Exam after college. But if, when entering a university for the same specialty, it is possible to pass specialized internal exams, this will simplify admission and become an additional motivation to choose SVE, says Mr. Altukhov.
[ad_2]
Source link