Russian Federation

The Russian Federation inherited the major features of its educational system from the Soviet Union, where schooling was centralized and uniform. This explains why the educational patterns are basically the same all over the country. Preprimary education is optional and includes nursery schools for infants under three years of age and kindergartens for three to six-year olds. General education is represented by the primary and secondary levels, usually combined in one school. The length of study is 3 or 4 years in primary school, 5 years in basic secondary school, and 2 years in upper secondary school, which totals 10 or 11 years (from 6- or 7- to 17-years-old).

The secondary school system is essentially two-track: after the basic secondary course students can either go on to the upper level or enter one of the secondary professional schools: PTU, technicum, uchilishche, or college. Graduates of general secondary and professional secondary schools can get a job or enter a VUZ (higher educational institution). Higher professional education is represented by institutes, academies, and universities, which can award three types of degrees: Bachelor (four years of study), Certified Specialist (five years of study), and Master (six years of study). Those who aspire for an advanced scholarly degree can proceed to aspirantura to earn the degree of Kandidat nauk and go further to doktorantura for the degree of Doktornauk.

Russia is a unique multicultural state with almost 120 ethnic units, which belong to 20 groups of the 4 biggest linguistic families and include from 30 to 130 million people. The Declaration of Rights of the Peoples of Russia (1917) proclaimed the right of all the citizens to be educated in their native tongue. From the very start bilingualism became the main principle of education for non-Russians. In the 1920s to 1930s, scholars created new alphabets for dozens of ethnic groups (first on the Latin and later on the Cyrillic basis). Scientific and instructional literature, as well as fiction was published in many native languages. Gradually, though, the sphere of their employment was significantly narrowed. At schools their use was practically limited to the elementary grades, whereas other levels were taught in Russian. In the 1970s to 1980s new efforts of linguists resulted in the development of alphabets for ethnic minorities of the Far North. The Federal Law on Languages (1991) guaranteed all ethnicities the right to study and be taught in their native language in the places of their compact habitation. It was further intensified by the Order of the Ministry of Education On the Measures for Preservation and Development of the Languages of the Peoples of Russia (1992).

According to the Constitution of 1993, Russian is the state language on the whole territory of the Russian Federation. In addition, republics have the right to establish their own state languages, which can be equally used in the state, republic, and local administrative organs. The state guarantees all its peoples the right to preserve and develop their native tongues. Article 6 of the Law on Education grants the citizens of Russia the right to choose the language of instruction within the options provided by the educational system. In all the accredited educational institutions, except preschools, the study of Russian, as well as the state languages of the republics, is regulated by the federal and republic laws.

Whereas the legal acts of the Russian Federation give the role of the intercultural communication tool to the Russian language, they leave room for the development of other languages and spheres of their use, as well as redistribution and coordination of their functions. The desire to preserve the cultural identity, along with the recent nationalistic tendencies, explains why the number of schools with instruction in the native tongue is steadily growing. Students have more opportunity to learn about the history, culture, and progressive traditions of ethnic groups living in particular regions. The goals of education have been reconsidered to match the needs of particular communities and ethnic groups. Teacher training includes the study of ethno-specific peculiarities under the conditions of bilingualism. After the break up of the Soviet Union, national languages have become a major political force. They have been used as a sign of national identity, as well as a tool of discrimination against non-titular nations. The traditional types of bilingual educational institutions include: 1) schools with instruction in the native language where Russian is taught as a subject; 2) schools with instruction in Russian where the native language is taught as a subject; 3) schools where the native language is taught only in elementary school; and 4) multinational schools where the native language is taught only as an elective. In the 1998-1999 academic year the schools of the Russian Federation were using 80 different languages of instruction. More than 20 million students were getting education in Russian and more than 1.1 million in their native (non-Russian) language.