Regional General Education System as Seen by Its Players

Abstract

Yuri Galeyev, Deputy Director of the Social Projects, Strategic Initiative Agency, Kazan, the Republic of Tatarstan. Email: yurigaleev@gmail.com
Address: 52 Peterburgskaya St., Kazan, 420074, the Republic of Tatarstan, Russian Federation.

Albert Guilmutdinov, D.Sc. in Mathematical Physics, Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Tatarstan. Email: albert.gilmutdinov@tatar.ru Address: 10 Karla Marksa St., Kazan, 420111, the Republic of Tatarstan, Russian Federation.

Timirkhan Alishev, Ph.D. in Sociology, teaching assistant in the Sociology Department of Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University, Kazan, the Republic of Tatarstan. Email: talishev@gmail.com
Address: 18 Kremlyovskaya St., Kazan, 420008, the Republic of Tatarstan, Russian Federation.

A comprehensive public opinion poll was conducted among teachers, school children and their parents in the Republic of Tatarstan to explore collective ideas and attitudes of players of the educational process. An analysis of the data obtained has allowed to identify the key problems in the current state of school education system in the Republic of Tatarstan. A negative balance is revealed between the teachers ready to earn less in exchange for lower requirements to their quality, the school students largely disinterested in complicated educational techniques, and the parents paying to provide additional opportunities for their children to develop in them competencies required for admission to a university. In fact, school role is limited to serving a bridge towards the next education stage.

Insufficient equipment of schools is the reason why students underestimate qualification of teachers of natural sciences and have very little interest in the learning process. Education only makes students deal with factual material instead of providing conditions for them to master modern learning techniques.

Poorly institutionalized communication between parents and school administrators brings in the disagreement on the purpose of educational process and the impossibility to take collective actions to improve education quality.

Information obtained after conceptualizing the research results was used in building the Strategy of Developing Education in the Republic of Tatarstan up to 2015.