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The situation's terrible here in Russia. We're also going backwards at a frightening pace.
1) We've mostly abolished Uni entrance exams and introduced standardized graduation tests. This is not a bad idea in itself, but its execution left much to be desired:
1a) There's widespread cheating in the ethnic republics.
1b) The curriculum is being adjusted by the teachers to fit the test. If something is not there because it's hard to multiple-choice it, it's not taught.
1c) The tests themselves are not exactly correct sometimes.
2) Now there's an initiative to split the subjects in high school into mandatory and optional. Which is a good idea if you want to learn more about your favourite subjects, but...
2a) Russian urban schools are smaller than American high schools (I'm a Soviet baby boomer, and around 110 students graduated with me) so there's less options to shuffle the timetable around to fit all those classes and no way your school is hiring a teacher to teach Modern South American History to a single student.
2b) The universal mandatory subjects are not algebra and Russian, as everyone expected them to be, but PT, Safety Basics (Duck and Cover plus traffic rules) and a stillborn monstrosity named Russia's place in the world. I dread to think what it is. Yes, you have to take a few basic subjects from each group, so you'll get your dose of maths and Russian, but it'll be less comprehensive.
2c) People are afraid, and reasonably so, they'll have to pay for advanced subjects to be taught to their children.
3) The teacher's job is less and less prestigious now. There's a huge gap between old veteran teachers and young graduates that are there for the work experience, which is barely filled by bored housewives.
4) The Bologna process is ruining out higher education. Yes, it was not compatible with European standards, but we're losing our years, decades even of teaching experience.
1) We've mostly abolished Uni entrance exams and introduced standardized graduation tests. This is not a bad idea in itself, but its execution left much to be desired:
1a) There's widespread cheating in the ethnic republics.
1b) The curriculum is being adjusted by the teachers to fit the test. If something is not there because it's hard to multiple-choice it, it's not taught.
1c) The tests themselves are not exactly correct sometimes.
2) Now there's an initiative to split the subjects in high school into mandatory and optional. Which is a good idea if you want to learn more about your favourite subjects, but...
2a) Russian urban schools are smaller than American high schools (I'm a Soviet baby boomer, and around 110 students graduated with me) so there's less options to shuffle the timetable around to fit all those classes and no way your school is hiring a teacher to teach Modern South American History to a single student.
2b) The universal mandatory subjects are not algebra and Russian, as everyone expected them to be, but PT, Safety Basics (Duck and Cover plus traffic rules) and a stillborn monstrosity named Russia's place in the world. I dread to think what it is. Yes, you have to take a few basic subjects from each group, so you'll get your dose of maths and Russian, but it'll be less comprehensive.
2c) People are afraid, and reasonably so, they'll have to pay for advanced subjects to be taught to their children.
3) The teacher's job is less and less prestigious now. There's a huge gap between old veteran teachers and young graduates that are there for the work experience, which is barely filled by bored housewives.
4) The Bologna process is ruining out higher education. Yes, it was not compatible with European standards, but we're losing our years, decades even of teaching experience.
dumbass
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