Vsevolod Lukhovitsky, a teacher of Russian language and law, a member of the Uchitel trade union, in an interview with Lenta.ru, criticized the proposal of the chairman of the Investigative Committee (IC) of Russia, Alexander Bastrykin, to cancel the unified state examination (USE).
According to him, Bastrykin is not a specialist in the field of education, and “it is not clear why someone should listen to his opinion.”
The chairman of the CK Russia at the conference “The Role of Law in Ensuring Human Well-Being” said that the Unified State Exam should be canceled, since “this is just some kind of torture for young people.”
Bastrykin also called for the revival of the Soviet school of education. In his opinion, she was the best in the world, “everyone has always recognized this, and our legislative proposals should be directed towards this.”
In response, Lukhovitsky said that Soviet education, which was better in all respects, is a mythologeme.
Rosobrnadzor considers the complete rejection of the unified state examination to be unjustified, as this may reduce the quality of education. “Unified approaches and procedures organized at the federal level motivate schoolchildren to study,” the department noted.
Rosobrnadzor also recalled that the exam confirmed its relevance as an effective mechanism for selecting applicants for admission to Russian universities.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the Unified State Exam provides an opportunity for schoolchildren from the regions to enter the country’s leading universities. However, he called the criticism of the system fair. He noted that the USE is being modernized. In particular, for admission, a mixed system is also used (USE and entrance examinations in universities – approx. “Lenta.ru”).
The experts suggested that instead of holding exams in the USE format, assess Russian schoolchildren by their current performance. Corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences Sergey Komkov believes that when giving an average score, one should also take into account all the student’s achievements in various fields: competitions, quizzes, creative works.
The teacher of Russia, candidate of psychological sciences Alexander Snegurov also proposed a different format for assessing the education of schoolchildren: taking into account the results of control and diagnostic works, final essays, participation in competitions, olympiads. As he believes, this will increase the motivation for education, and not one-sided, as at present, but all-round.
First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Education and Science (Communist Party faction) Oleg Smolin, in turn, offered to give children the right to choose: take the exam and internal entrance examinations at universities, or write an essay and pass an oral exam. This method of testing knowledge will contribute to the admission of applicants to creative universities, the expert said.
In June, the head of the Russian Ministry of Education, Sergei Kravtsov, spoke about plans to replace the USE, noting that the ministry was ready to consider alternative mechanisms for assessing the knowledge of schoolchildren. “If someone proposes another mechanism for assessing the knowledge of schoolchildren, objective, and most importantly, independent, then we, of course, will be happy to consider and discuss it,” he said.
In May, SuperJob conducted a poll, which revealed that 68 percent of Russians are in favor of canceling the exam. Another 16 percent of the country’s residents consider this assessment of knowledge to be correct.
Those who voted against the Unified State Exam noted that in the process of preparing schoolchildren are taught to solve only problems of a certain type, while they need to know and understand the subject more broadly. Those who reacted positively to the unified state exam emphasized that this form of certification helps to minimize incidents of corruption, and also makes it possible to compare the level of education in different schools and allows talented students from the regions to enter large universities.
The head of Rosobrnadzor Anzor Muzaev said that Russia is unlikely to completely abandon the Unified State Exam by 2030, but it will change due to digitalization. According to him, the exam will acquire new forms in the near future.
The decision on the need to leave the USE only for applicants to higher educational institutions should be made by the expert community, Muzaev said. Moreover, in 2020, about ten percent of schoolchildren refused exams. This suggests that not all graduates need the Unified State Exam to obtain higher education.
The USE format will be changed from 2022 to 2024. In the fall, on the official website of the Federal Institute of Pedagogical Measurements, they promised to publish documents that would establish the content and structure of the CIM USE 2022. These standards will allow schools to form the necessary skills and abilities among students at the level of secondary general education in accordance with the subject requirements included in the FSES of secondary general education.
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