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Training with a guarantee of employment: "Methodologist: from beginner to professional"

Head of Rosobrnadzor

Venue: round table on the topic "Quality of education - the basis for achieving national goals" at the St. Petersburg State Mining University, named in honor of Empress Catherine II.

The reforms initiated in the 1980s significantly distracted the educational system from its main goals and objectives. We all recognize how challenging the situation has become, but critical moments have already been overcome, and the descent into the abyss has been halted. While some problems remain, we are beginning to move in the right direction, striving to ensure truly high-quality education.

Head of Rosobrnadzor

Venue: Roundtable discussion on "Quality of Education: The Key to Achieving National Goals" at the St. Petersburg Mining University, founded by Empress Catherine the Great.

The reform that began in the 1980s diverted the education system from its core goals and objectives. We are all aware of the consequences this has led to, but it seems we have already been able to halt this process and prevent further decline. Although some sparks still continue to flicker, we are nonetheless moving towards achieving quality education.

Context

Anzor Muzaev spoke at a roundtable discussion entitled "Quality of Education - the Basis for Achieving National Goals," held at the Empress Catherine II St. Petersburg Mining University. He described the overloading of school curricula as an "outrage" that must be stopped. According to him, a significant portion of the topics included in the standard school curriculum are overloaded by 15% to 30%, and many of them were previously studied in the Soviet Union in the second year of university. Muzaev noted that mastering such topics at school age seems virtually impossible. As a result, as the head of Rosobrnadzor noted, teachers are often forced to skip these topics during the teaching process.

Anzor Muzaev highlighted excessive "cramming" for the Unified State Exam (USE) as a pressing issue. He emphasized that the exam should not be viewed as the ultimate goal, since the two or three subjects they focus on during preparation are insufficient to fully develop students' worldviews. Furthermore, the emphasis on the USE creates another problem related to tutoring. What the head of Rosobrnadzor likely meant by this is the fact that additional classes cost graduates a significant amount of money. "Schools are obliged to ensure the study of the Federal State Educational Standard (FSES) without the need to resort to paid courses," Anzor Muzaev noted.

Criticism of the Russian school system is nothing new.

In December 2023, Valery Fadeyev, Chairman of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights, expressed the opinion that preparation for the Unified State Exam (USE) hinders high school students from fully mastering the curriculum in many subjects. To provide students with additional incentive to study the entire school curriculum, he proposed taking into account an "integrated assessment"—the average grade point average for all subjects or for subjects such as history, literature, and geography. According to Fadeyev, these disciplines play a crucial role in shaping students' worldviews. Despite discussion of this initiative, it has not yet been implemented into the admissions system for higher education institutions.
The challenges families face when preparing for the Unified State Exam (USE) has long been a topic of discussion. The problem is that regular schoolwork is often insufficient. Back in 2021, Deputy Sergei Mironov noted that many graduates were unable to enroll in higher education due to financial constraints that prevented their families from paying for additional preparatory courses. In his 2024 address to the Federal Assembly, President Vladimir Putin emphasized the importance of ensuring that the Unified State Exam (USE) aligns with school curricula. In December of that year, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko announced plans to improve the quality of school education, which should allow graduates to successfully pass the USE without having to resort to paid tutors.
A recent report from the Human Rights Council focuses on the academic workload of schoolchildren, particularly for high school students, where it amounts to 56.5 hours per week. However, the authors also note a discrepancy in the curriculum. In their opinion, even with such a long class duration, the time allocated for high-quality mastery of the material remains insufficient. There are many complex topics, and lessons are often lost due to additional activities, all-Russian assessments, and teachers being busy with the OGE and USE exams.

Anzor Muzaev's speech at the Saint Petersburg Mining University can largely be characterized as a criticism of the existing school system. However, he also noted that steps are being taken towards improvement. Rosobrnadzor emphasized that the Ministry of Education is actively working to reduce the workload on students and teachers. In particular, this is the goal of Ministry of Education Order No. 704, which entered into force on September 1, 2025. This document establishes unified federal educational programs for all academic subjects, and also provides for the synchronization of educational programs with the OGE and USE exams and a unified calendar and lesson planning. The main goal of this order was precisely to normalize the teaching load. More detailed information about the new initiatives can be found here.

The Ministry of Education commented on the speech by Rosobrnadzor head Anzor Muzaev, noting that he was addressing a pre-existing problem. Currently, thanks to the implementation of unified educational programs, the workload on students is becoming less intense. The statement was reported by the Interfax news agency.

Sakhalin State University Rector Alexander Samardak previously attracted public attention with his controversial statement about problems in the education system. During the Eastern Economic Forum session on "Synchronizing the Labor Market and Professional Educational Organizations," he noted that the situation with specialist training is extremely tense. According to him, there is no federal forecast for the labor market, and regional forecasts do not reflect the real situation. In addition, the targeted training system does not meet the requirements of employers, and quotas for targeted training remain unfilled.