Russians have always shown a great concern and interest for education. The right to have an education is stated in the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Russia`s education system is insured by compulsory secondary schools, vocational schools and higher educational establishments. It is also insured by the development of extramural and evening courses and the system of state scholarships and grants.

Education in Russia is compulsory to the 9th grade inclusively. The stages of compulsory schooling in Russia are as follows: Primary Education for ages 6 to 7 years old, and from 9 to 10 years old inclusive; Secondary Education including intermediate schools for ages 10 to 11 years old and from 12 to 13 years old, and Senior High School for ages 13 to 15 years old. If students of secondary schools want to go in for higher education, they should stay in high school for 2 more years. School education is free and schools are mandated to allow students who are near their facilities to enter that particular school without an entrance exam. If the students results are unsatisfactory, he or she has to repeat this school year program once again.

Every school has the same stable curriculum of academic subjects such as Russian Literature, Algebra, Geometry, History, foreign language and so on. (Students are not allowed to pick and choose what they want to learn, they are required to take all courses prescribed as mandatory subjects). The school year is divided into 4 terms with vacations between them. There are some schools calling themselves “gymnasiums” and “lyceums” that offer programs giving a profound knowledge in some field of study. This is done to help some students enter into a unversity. Children usually have to pass entrance exams to enter these kind of schools, which are sometimes payable. Their programs can and do differ from the regular school program. For example, at a regular school, children have 6 classes a day, but in a gymnasium they could have up to 12 classes a day. Russian children attend some music schools or sports clubs after regular school.

After finishing the 9th grade (sometimes – 11th) one can go on to vocational schools which offer programs of academic subjects and a program of training in a technical field or a profession. They are similar to American 2-year colleges; offering a free education which takes 3 years. Sometimes people could start the third year of higher education after them.

After finishing the 11th grade of a secondary school, a lyceum or a gymnasium, one can go on in higher education. All applicants must take competitive examinations. Higher educational establishments, are Universities and Institutes, which are similar to 4-year colleges and provide higher education in a particular field. In the governmental higher educational establishments, half of the places are free for people who have passed special entrance examinations. Those students even get scholarships for good results of their studies from the government. There are some non-governmental institutes – education there is payable and is suppose to be worse than in governmental universities. Higher educational establishments offer a 5-year program (despite that after 4 years students also get a bachelors degree) of academic classes for undergraduates in a variety of fields, as well as graduate courses. If one finishes a graduate course and writes a thesis, he or she gets a candidate degree, corresponding to the Master’s Degree, or the Doctor’s Degree. There are 2 terms in each university year, after which students have to pass an examination. Those, who do not pass this exam, are thrown away from their educational establishments.

Free higher education is Russia’s achievement that allows about 70 percent of its population t recieve a higher education. Most employers in Russia require higher education even from sells people or administrators (they suppose that it helps staff to communicate with clients better). Russian higher education, especially in technical and natural science, are suppose to be good and it’s usually even more complicated as in many other countries. For example, students usually take more than 10 classes every term. People from foreign countries, especially from China, India, Africa and Asia, come to study in Russia, because education here is good and cheep (less than $1,000 a year).

In Russia students cannot choose classes, so in educational establishments they are divided into stable groups (at schools called classes, at higher educational establishment – according to specialization) of 25-30 people with whom they are usually study for all the period of their education in their establishment. That’s why students here usually have friendly relationships and keep in contact with each other for all their life. There are campuses and tourist camps for students and pupils in recreational areas where they can spend their vacation together (they are usually free or very cheep). Schools, institutes and universities usually have sport teams, bands, drama studios, newspapers and so on. Competitions between them is organized every spring. Many people who are famous now in Russian Art including cinema and music started in these clubs. Sometimes higher educational establishments provide an opportunity for their students to find a good job, but now it’s not so often as before because of unemployment. So student’s and school years are among the best and most remarkable in the life of every Russian person.

However the system of secondary and higher education in Russia is going through a transitional period. The main objectives of the reform are to decentralize the higher education system, to develop a new financial mechanism, to give more academic freedoms to faculties and students. So Russian educational systems are coming closer to those of other countries.

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