On May 21, Saratov State University hosted a meeting with directors of general education institutions. The meeting was attended by SSU Rector, Prof. A.N. Chumachenko, Deputy Minister of education N.N. Obrezha, Vice-rector for educational work, Prof. E.G. Elina, Vice-rector for educational and organizational work I.G. Malinski, faculty deans, institute directors, heads of SSU structural units.
A.N. Chumachenko opened the meeting. “These meetings are very important because you as representatives of educational society have to know about university educational work. We at University have to understand what modern school lives by. Many of you are SSU alumni and these ties are very important for us”.
The Rector also highlighted that the University is proud of its teachers’ education and its graduates. “Former Pedagogical Institution faculties are of a very high level and train well qualified professionals. 17 out of 25 SSU structural units train school teachers. You are our employers. Another connection between us is prospective students of this year”, said the Rector. “As a National Research University we should have good students. SSU gives opportunities that are not readily available at any university. We have cutting-edge equipment used in educational process and in research”.
A.N. Chumachenko also shared University achievements, third place at All-Russia “Student Spring” festival and participation in “Turiada-2015” forum are among them.
Deputy Minister N.N. Obrezha welcomed the participants. “This meeting organized by the University is a great platform for sharing our experience and discussing issues of teachers’ education. They concern young specialists’ career and professional level of working teachers. In modern society knowledge grows very fast; it requires teachers and all people to learn constantly, train and re-train. That is why Russian Law on education and Labour Code require teachers to get further professional training every three years”.
N.N. Obrezha said SSU is one of the oldest universities in the country, but it is also a very dynamic university complex with great educational, research and innovation platform that allow training professionals of high level. “The university wants to have good prospective students; we want to have young specialists who in their turn are willing to give high quality education. I believe we should work together”, said the deputy minister.
Vice-rector for educational and organizational work I.G. Malinski told about changes in admissions campaign 2015. “In 2015, university admission is based solely on State Exam results. College, secondary technical school and vocational school graduates make the only exclusion”, said the vice-rector.
According to the new rules, the application deadlines are July 24 for full-time studies, August 16 for part-time programs and September 19 for commercial courses.
I.G. Malinski also drew attention to the fact that the University wound not post lists of recommended applicants. 80% of students get enrolled before August 3; second deadline is August 7. Another change concerns prospective students from Crimea.
The Vice-rector highlighted the fact that the University could not have additional exams this year. “We follow the list of state exams. Addition exam is organized for Journalism applicants only”.
Additional exam points are given for excellent school certificate (7 points) and composition (10 points).
Vice-rector for educational work E.G. Elina talked about Master Programs. “Master’s Degree has not become a very popular type of education yet. However, Master Programs give an opportunity to complete second higher education in just two years. As we see a high demand for teachers’ further training and re-training, master’s degree seems important for working teachers and school managers”, believes E.G. Elina. “Bachelor degree holders could enroll in budget-funded Master Programs. Our University has enough budget-funded places every year”.
The Vice-rector enlisted the programs traditionally popular among teachers: Biology, Mathematics, Profession-oriented Mathematics. “You could study natural science; there are programs in “genius education” and adult education. There are Master Programs in Physics, IT, Foreign Languages, etc.” Master Programs in educational management, Economics, Psychology and Law might be of interest for school directors.
Institute of Continuing Professional Education Director Yu.G. Golub told about additional educational possibilities available at SSU. “At our institution, teachers could learn about innovations in education. It is important for us to communicate with teachers”.
After the presentations, there was a discussion concerning innovations in education, inclusive education in our region, re-training opportunities and other aspects of school education.
