By Vestnik Kavkaza
The Russian President stated in his annual message to the Federal Assembly on December 12, 2013, that “in the very near future mutual recognition of school certificates with all countries of the CIS should be provided.”
Galina Kuznetsova, director of the Department for International Cooperation and Public Relations of Sholokhov Moscow State University for the Humanities, thinks that the main problem with entering a Russian university by students from the CIS is non-recognition of educational certificates. “A student is full of enthusiasm to enter a university, it is his dream, he wants to study at a certain university, but suddenly it appears that a document is invalid. This is always a problem. So I believe that the initiative [by Putin] will simplify the process of accepting applicant documents.”
As for organization of the USE under Russian standards, Kuznetsova says that “very often we have to organize additional exams for students from the CIS countries – exams in the Russian language, in other subjects, Now a person who has passed the USE can predict whether he is able to enter the university which he chose.”
Alexander Udod, the head of the Institute of Innovations in the sphere of education under the National Academy of Science of Ukraine, said: “When the initiative by Vladimir Putin was announced, I mean mutual recognition of school certificates, we analyzed documents which we have between the governments of Russia and Ukraine. I inform you this problem was solved by our countries 13 years ago. We have an agreement which says that school certificates are recognized.
We adjusted the system of casting candidates for state-funded education in Russia. And all problems are solved at all levels of education – bachelors, masters, specialists, post-graduate education, PhDs, practical study. Due to certificates given by the embassy of Russia and offices of Rossotrudnichestvo in Ukraine, our graduates can enter Russian universities and get state-funded education and receive grants from the Russian government.”
However, Udod says that the problem of USE is still acute: “We have different school systems, different exams, and we have to think about it thoroughly and compare procedures, results, the certificates of graduates after they pass the USE and Standardized External Testing. There is a difference. I think it is not significant, and we can reach a compromise through negotiations.”
Tigran Saakyan, the head of the Department for Foreign Affairs and Diaspora under the Ministry of Education of Armenia, says that Armenia and Russia have intergovernmental agreements on recognition of degrees and school certificates with Russia, but there are several problems: “Armenia is experiencing a boom in private universities, when in every house you could find a private university. And due to our reforms, in recent years more than 50 private universities have been shut down. The Bologna process requires 12-year general education, while Russia still has 11-year general education. And it makes the process of recognition of school certificates more difficult. The main goals of the process are not only mobility, but also a high quality of education, mutual recognition of certificates.”
According to Saakyan, “every year about 200 of our citizens enter Russian universities. I know Rossotrudnichestvo is developing an international program on the Russian language. And it will help to solve our problems surrounding studying at Russian universities very much.”
