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EDUCATIONAL PERSPECTIVES IN RUSSIA

Russia is the biggest country in the world with the population of over 150 million people (totally with the former USSR republics over 250 million people), with large technological, economic and intellectual potential. The system of secondary and higher education in Russia is governed by the state and is very well developed. There are 590 state and 349 private universities with over 4 million students. More than 1,7 million are studying in vocational colleges. There are about 70 thousand secondary schools with over 20 million students.

Annually, over 100 thousand Russian students go overseas to study. Each year this number increases by 10 %. This tendency has not been affected by the financial and political crises. In accordance to the statistical data every fourth graduate of university in Russia wishes to continue education abroad. However distribution of students among countries could be influenced greatly the situation in the world.

74% of students from Russia prior entering vocational colleges and universities overseas had to pass prerequisite English language training, but many Russian students entered overseas universities after one or two years of tertiary studies in Russia and had good English language proficiency. Each year a number of students entering universities directly would be growing.

According to the new issue of Global Education Digest 2006 (UNESCO Institute of Statistic) 34,373 Russian students graduated with bachelor degree in 2004 worldwide, including 11,462 in Germany, 5,532 in USA, 2,527 in France and 1,878 in United Kingdom.

Until now Russian high school certificates are not recognized by overseas universities as an evidence of secondary/high education. Therefore graduates of Russian secondary educational institutions prior university studies have to undertake foundation programs.

Generally, Russian students wishing to study abroad are interested in the programs presented in the Table 2.

In terms of migration matters, Russia belongs to the so-called high-risk countries. There are several issues involved with that. In addition to identifying a person willing to study abroad who is able to pay for his/her education and besides completing enrolment procedure, it would be vital to ensure that the student gets a visa as well. The refusal rate of student visa applications from Russian and other former Soviet Union students is rather high by almost all Moscow embassies of the countries traditionally offering study opportunities to foreign students. Undoubtedly, some of these refusals are fair. However, in our opinion, almost half of refusals are coming from incorrect filling out student application forms and inaccurate presentation of supporting documentation, wrong choice of study program, inconsistent to applicant's educational background or formalistic attitude to getting a visa in general. Students International accounts for only 2% refusal rate as is based on our 17-year experience. We give our potential students consultations on educational institutions and study programs and how to get a visa to resume studies overseas.

Educational companies from over the world have been acting at the Russian educational market for considerable period of time offering various exchange programs for students and tutors, IELTS and TOEFL preparation courses etc. For instance, up to the early 2008 British Council had representative offices in some big cities of the Russian Federation and mostly organized IELTS examination sessions regularly in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Samara, Rostov-on-Don, Omsk, Novosibirsk and other cities. Currently it is possible to pass IELTS examination with Students International IELTS Test Centers in Moscow and Vladivostok. Moreover, the company is officially accredited to conduct IELTS sessions in a wide range of cities throughout the Russian Federation, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. The list of cities is available on the following link: www.ielts-moscow.ru

Educational institutions from UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand have created locally substantial number of joint universities and vocational colleges. Therefore students in Russia are traditionally more inclined towards these countries.

Russia enforces strict laws regarding foreign currency circulation, forbidding local citizens to have accounts with overseas banking organizations without a special approval of the Central Bank of Russian Federation. Russians also cannot transfer money overseas except for the purpose of paying for education, medical treatment, pocket money for children and in some other exceptional cases. This policy of the Russian government indirectly contributes to development of the market of overseas educational services in the country.