On December 19, Saratov State University hosted the regional stage of National History test which is part of All-Russia project “I am proud of Russia every day”. It is organized by the Youth Parliament under State Duma. The event took place on the 106th birthday of the University.
The event took place at Building XI. Over 400 Saratov citizens were registered for an on-site test including representatives of state administration, public organizations, and institutions of education and culture, school and university students.
The official part started with the speech by Saratov Region Youth Parliament Chair Elena Pronina. “The test takes place at 70 subjects of the Russian Federation; there are over 700 test centers where every Russian citizen could test their knowledge of national history. There are on-site and Internet-based test centers”, said the youth leader.
Chair of Saratov Region Duma V.V. Kapkaev welcomed the test-takers. “Today is the 106th birthday of the oldest university of our region”, highlighted the Chair. “I wish it further success and prosperity”.
He praised the University for providing Saratov citizens with a unique opportunity to test their knowledge of national history. “For school and university students this is a routine procedure, but for adult citizens it could be a bit stressful. However, it is our conscious decision to check our knowledge of this subject. National history should be known, loved and respected; and we should do everything in our power to make rich”.
Then SSU Rector A.N. Chumachenko addressed the guests mentioning that Building XI where the test took place hosts both liberal arts and history students. “Our country is united by the common language and great history in the same way”.
The Rector reminded of the latest meeting of the Russian Geographical Society where he suggested introducing a compulsory geography exam for school students. Soon after that SSU hosted all-Russia Geography Dictation. History test, in the opinion of A.N. Chumachenko, continues this campaign.
The Chair of Saratov Region Public Chamber A.S. Lando said that patriotism is impossible without knowing the history of your country. To conduct a discussion or a debate, to persuade your opponents one should know the historical milestones of the country. “Today’s event help not only check the knowledge but to revive an interest for Russian history”, believes A.S. Lando.
After the official ceremony the test-takers went to their classes. The test included 40 questions on national history from 822 to the present day.
Every question answered correctly is worth 1 point. The participant had 45 minutes to complete the test but many of them did it in less than 25-30 minutes. There was also an online test at the official website with the result given straight away.
The test questions were developed by the Ural Federal University staff.
According to the organizers, over 400 Saratov citizens registered for the on-site test.
SSU Rector A.N. Chumachenko said the test question were not so difficult for him. Talking about the event’s scale he mentioned there were lots of school and university students as well as older people. “I hope a similar test will take place in Saratov next year and I have no doubts our University will host it. It is very important for us, especially as it coincided with the University’s birthday”, said A.N. Chumachenko.
The results will be available before the end of year 2015.
