Russian lawmaker calls for end to Unified State Exam and Basic State Exam

Russia needs to completely abandon all elements copied from Western models, including the Basic State Exam (BSE) and Unified State Exam (USE). These exams should be gradually abolished, according to Petr Tolstoy, vice-speaker of the State Duma.

In his opinion, changes are needed not only in the abolished Bologna system but in the entire education system. Tolstoy insists that it was copied from Western standards.

“We need to change not only the Bologna system, a decision has already been made on that. We need to change the entire system, which was built as a copy of Western education, because both the USE and BSE are all attempts to build a system according to the Bologna. I believe that we need to gradually abolish the USE, return to the traditional education system consisting of graduation and entrance exams,” the speaker said during an open dialogue with student participants of the special military operation, which took place at the Museum of Victory.

However, these are not all ideas for changing the education system. One of them concerns the number of university places. For engineering, agricultural, medical, mathematical, and natural science specialties, the number of state-funded places is intended to be increased. But for humanities, arts, and culture, the budget is planned to be «slightly» reduced.

And for paid programs, it has been proposed to prohibit university admission for those with USE scores below 50 points.

Read also about another government project — the abandonment of the Bologna system of higher education. Find out when a large-scale reform is planned and what will change for students.