A press conference dedicated to preparations to and holding of the 2018 Unified State Exam (or EGE) was held at the AiF Chelyabinsk press center. One of the invited experts was Director of the School of Physics and Mathematics, Vice Rector for Academic Affairs of SUSU, Candidate of Sciences (Pedagogy) Yuliya Bolotina.
How many graduates in the Chelyabinsk Region will take the EGE this year? By what criteria graduates are guided today when choosing their university? Specialists answered these and other important questions related to the Enrollment Campaign.
“This year, 16,250 registered across the Chelyabinsk Region. 14,481 of them are graduates of this year (by 900 more than last year). In addition, this year, there are many graduates from previous years who took the EGE early, in the spring period,” says Elena Kouzova, First Deputy Minister of Education in the Chelyabinsk Region. “This is related to the fact that some changes have been made for the time periods that final testing are being held for graduates of previous years. This large number of testers allows us to once more verify the readiness of our services and specialists to the main period of activity. There were three places to take the exams – two in Chelyabinsk and one in Magnitogorsk. Everything went well.”
This year, 85 places will be available for exams, plus four more points for people who are completing their final exams at home, and one in a hospital. All of them are equipped according to the new federal requirements. They have set up all of the conditions for graduates with disabilities. The human factor is being gradually but surely excluded. It is very important that all of the points worked without a glitch this year. All of the rooms were equipped with online video surveillance, and specialists in the situation center watch what is happening in the rooms. In addition, public surveillance is organized.
Deputy Head of Department of General Education Quality Assessment of the Federal Supervision Service for Education and Science (Rosobrnadzor) Yana Popko talked about the main innovation of 2018. In all locations for EGE, a full set of exam materials are printed in the rooms with the testers present. This is done to optimize the procedure. The printing takes no more than 20 minutes.
Yuliya Bolotina spoke about the criteria for choosing universities and majors:
“In the region, we have created a good system of occupational guidance. All of the universities and vocational schools work with territorial government bodies and with the Ministry of Education and Science of the Chelyabinsk Region. There are preparatory courses everywhere. Universities and vocational educational institutions decide for themselves what funds and resources will be used to help people make their choice with regard to professions. Therefore, today, there is a coordinated system of occupational guidance. Various industry-specific schools are being opened, most often for free. For example, South Ural State University at no cost provides pupils beginning from the seventh grade with an opportunity to choose their profession in 12 fields of training.”
The so-called “scientific holidays” in summer and winter also help students make their choices. We give them a chance to work in image laboratories, in scientific research centers, and complete research. Work is offered in sections of the well-represented in our region Scientific Society of Students.
It is possible to participate in the Olympiad movement. Today, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Chelyabinsk Region is the co-organizer of the Zvezda (“Star”) Multidisciplinary Engineering Olympiad, the coordinator of which is SUSU. This is the second-largest Olympiad in the country after only the All-Russian Olympiad of Schoolchildren. 327,000 participants from 80 regions and 25 countries were involved in the selection round. 54,000 people took part in the final round. We are proud that the Chelyabinsk Region keeps holding the top position without fail. There were 4,817 winners and medalists across Russia. Most of them came from the Chelyabinsk Region.
More and more pupils, already beginning from the sixth grade, are beginning to participate in the Olympiad movement. In that way, we are not just determining and supporting talented kids, we are giving them a chance through these Olympiads, where there are project tasks, to find the field of engineering which is most interesting to them.
In terms of criteria for choosing majors, the most important thing is the prospect of a good job and a successful career. The second criteria is the readiness to master the subjects necessary for obtaining a degree. If a child chooses mathematics, physics, or computer science, we understand that he or she may be able to earn state-funded education, as there are many such places available in IT academic programs. If children are prone to chemistry and biology, that means they are likely interested in a medical university. Pupils keep track of how many state-funded places are available and make their choices, then begin their preparations in certain subjects.
Today, many students choose secondary vocational schools. By the way, we have updated the admissions process for the Multidisciplinary College of SUSU. Admissions are carried out in four key fields: tourism, hospitality, law enforcement, and software. We have passed state accreditation, our resources and the level and quality of education were recognized as quite strong.
There are so-called Top-15 fields of education into which students with the highest point totals enrolled on a contract base or to state-funded places. These fields correlate well with the wages that graduates receive when they graduate and get a job. Of course, the top positions are occupied by IT fields (software engineering, fundamental computer science, and information security). These are followed by construction, electrical engineering, architecture, rocket engineering, and instrumentation. If we speak about the humanities, then the top positions are held by applied and classical linguistics, regional studies, international relations, economics, and law. More and more graduates with high EGE scores are applying for clinical psychology, performance psychology, forensic examination, mechatronics, national security law, and robotics. Today, these specialists are in demand and earn fairly high wages.
It is worth adding that social sciences are traditionally the most popular EGE subject, since it is a field-specific subject for many universities. Physics this year was taken by more than 25% of graduates, biology – more than 22%, history – 17.5%, chemistry – almost 15%, and computer science – more than 13%. Students have shown very high results in the latter subject.
One more point of data to add is that 60 percent of graduates from Chelyabinsk Region schools enroll at SUSU.