The Ministry of Education of RT will experiment both on teachers and students in 2016
At the Board of the Ministry of Education and Science, the correspondent of Realnoe Vremya found out the aims of the officials on the threshold of WorldSkills, how successful the 'Unified State Exam for teachers' was, that has provoked teachers' indignation, what the difference is between exaction and voluntary contribution and what the Ministry of Education plans for 2016.
'Generally resolved' problem of waiting lists to kindergartens and educational experiments
At the traditional Board of the Ministry of Education and Science of RT, the institution summed up the results of work in 2015. This meeting took place in Kazan school №179, that, according to the Prime Minister of RT Ildar Khalikov, was not chosen by chance.
'This school is one of the examples of improvement of financial and basic conditions of the educational systems of the Republic. Maybe, everyone cannot but agree that in the past 5 years in the Republic there has been done a lot: financial conditions have been improved, many new programmes have been introduced, that encourage the best teachers, the best specialists,' said Khalikov.
In 2015, the work of the Ministry covered the entire educational sphere of the Republic. In the first place, much attention was paid to the pre-school education. According to the Minister of Education Engel Fattakhov, the long-standing problem of waiting list to kindergartens 'has been solved in general'. Also, one of directions of work of the Ministry of Education and Science was the development of a multilingual language environment: the teaching of foreign languages have started in four kindergartens of Kazan in pilot mode.
As for the system of secondary education, last year the work on introduction of the federal state educational standards (FSES) was continued.
'Now at elementary school pupils are taught according to FSES, as well as the 5th grade, and 6th, 7th, and 8th – in a pilot mode. I would like to note that the implementation of standards requires high qualification of the teachers,' said Fattakhov.
Also, requirements for operation of school buses have been changed. Now, there are 699 school buses in Tatarstan. The thing is, for a long time buses were serviced at schools, and many directors had to maintain and to provide pre-trip inspection. For safety reasons, the buses were transferred to the transport enterprise.
'Cheating' teachers and a mysterious paper on school exactions
Last year, the Ministry of Education of RT worked out a rating system for evaluation of municipalities. The special department controls the situation, and the Co-ordinating Council was created for the feedback. In other words, active work is carried out in order the lagging rayons could catch up.
In the framework of that work, possible corruptions and levies in the educational institutions are monitored. By the way, last autumn the media brought up the question of allegedly existing 'letter for official use' after the sign of the head of the Ministry of Education of RT to the administration of educational institutions and chiefs of Rayon Department of Education (RONO) 'Recommendations on attraction of extra-budgetary funds...'.
The document 'The set of measures aimed at preventing illegal fees from parents of students studying in educational organizations' explains what the teacher has to do in order an exaction was not recognized as illegal. It is simple: one should register it as a voluntary donation, 'the beneficiary' must sign a contract with 'the benefactor', all donations need to be registered in a special register, etc.
The Unified State Exam for teachers
Also, last year the Ministry of Education of RT made 'a present' for the teachers – the USE for teachers. The test was held on 5 November, in the midst of the school holidays. The position of the institution in relation to this measure is following: a teacher who poorly understands his subject, will not be able to teach a child at a high level. According to Fattakhov, he was concerned about the objectivity of the test in several districts of the Republic.
'The teachers from Kukmorsky, Mamdyshsky, Arsky, Baltasinsky and Leninogorsky districts demonstrated the highest results. At the same time, they are not confirmed by a comparable level of knowledge of their students,' said the Minister of Education of RT.
Mentors from Nizhnekamskneftekhim and TAIF
Another priority in the work of the Ministry is vocational education. In 2015, the professional diagnosis of children was held, then the map of career guidance for each student was formed, the results of which were sent to municipal departments of education. Also, the development of a chain of resource centres for vocational training was continued. According to the Ministry, nine centres in the fields of agriculture, refining, energy and construction were established.
The director of Nizhnekamsk Technical School of petrochemistry and refining Tatyana Kupriyanova told about this at the Board meeting. This educational institution is actively cooperating with the main employers: PJSC Nizhnekamskneftechim, TANEKO and TAIF-NK. For example, PJSC Nizhnekamskneftechim supported the establishment of the center of career guidance, having transferred museum complex to the Technical School.
'Nizhnekamskneftechim and TANEKO subsidized 6 million rubles each on repair and equipping with the material and technical base. Also, an employer participates in the educational process: the specialists from enterprises give classes, participate in agreement of educational programs, also, an employer takes part in midterm assessments. Moreover, 43 mentors from Nizhnekamskneftechim were trained,' told Kupriyanova.
Preparation to WorldSkills-2019 has already began
As for the plans for 2016, the Ministry has more than enough of them. For example, in the framework of the programme it is planned to repair another 147 schools and kindergartens.
Also, this year the federal project on creating new places starts to avoid two sessions in schools.in schools starts to avoid two sessions in schools.
In 2016, there will be another 'present' for teachers from the Ministry of Education and Science of RT — voluntary certification of teachers on conformity to the professional standard of the teacher. Also, there will be introduced additional levels of professional career paths for the teachers of the highest category: teacher-mentor and teacher-expert.
Another important direction of work in the coming year Engel Fattakhov called the preparation for WorldSkills-2019.
'To ensure that our educational programmess meet international standards, special methodological unions on groups of specialities are created, each union is led by the expert responsible for preparing candidates for the national team,' explained the Minister.
By 2017 it is planned to concentrate training of all specialties of WorldSkills in the resource centers of RT. In 2016, the movement JuniorSkills will actively develop in the framework of preparation for the main championship.