Who doesn't need the Unified State Exam

The author is a teacher of Russian language and literature Tatyana Ivanova, who in January 2012 reported fraud in the parliamentary elections in St. Petersburg. Now she is the defendant in a libel suit filed by the head of the education department of one of the city’s districts, Natalya Nazarova, who, according to Ivanova, was one of the initiators of the falsifications. Read more.

The Unified State Exam is an extremely controversial phenomenon. On the one hand, the tasks that are offered to students, for example, in Russian language and literature, are composed of high quality, although due to the test nature of the exam, the children have completely forgotten how to write essays. Preparation for the exam takes place over two years, in grades 10 and 11. The problem is that these last two years involve repeating the material already covered, but this is only given for two hours in the 10th grade and 1 hour in the 11th. This is quite a bit, so he is forced to spend the 30 hours a year given to the teacher not on full repetition of the material, but on preparing for test tasks. In order for a student to successfully pass the exam, he must be “coached”; there is no talk of normal training. In addition, for educational institutions, the Unified State Examination is a complete hassle, because it is necessary to organize examinations at school, and even send teachers to work at the Unified State Examination reception point.

On the other hand, there are a lot of people who do not need a higher education. They need a high school diploma and the opportunity to work after leaving school, and this opportunity is essentially being taken away from them. I worked at an education center. There are such centers in every region. Education centers offer full-time, part-time and part-time forms of education and external studies. Speaking in Russian, these are former evening schools. Who studies in these centers? Those who for some reason did not receive an education. Some don't even have 6th or 7th grade. There were cases when seventeen-year-olds came who had never gone to school at all, even to primary school. Children come who find themselves in a difficult life situation due to family circumstances, those who were “asked” from other schools, who are registered with the police, who have a suspended conviction. They have dropped out of educational processes so much that they cannot be forced to go to school every day. It happened that a mother was taking an exam, and the teacher was sitting at this time with her one-year-old child in her arms. Can you imagine the level of knowledge they come with? They would have to finish 9th grade with grief and go get a specialty. Many people simply need a certificate to get a job, albeit a weak one, but a certificate. They will never pass the Unified State Exam. And it turns out that they simply have no chance of getting a complete secondary education. But in our state 11 classes are compulsory. What happens? Well, these students will spend a year in the 12th grade, and that will be the end of their education. If a graduate does not need to enter a higher educational institution, he can limit himself to the traditional form of passing exams in his educational institution. Students must choose their own form of final assessment. Those taking the Unified State Exam must be issued certificates with the points they scored, so that they receive their certificate in any case.

Those who want to enter a university, in my opinion, should take the Unified State Exam next year, for a fee. Because when you have to pay money for a repeat exam, believe me, the graduate applicant will prepare for this exam more seriously (it’s free, it’s free). But let's not look for easy ways when the question concerns the future. And today's students are our tomorrow.