School Education to Undergo Major Changes: What to Know

The Council of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation has approved the draft of a new Federal State Educational Standard (FSES) for secondary schools. The updated standards, aimed at practice-oriented learning, will come into force on September 1, 2027. Here«s what you need to know about the innovations.

Major changes in the educational process

As explained by Maxim Kostenko, head of the Institute of Content and Teaching Methods (ISMO) of the Ministry of Education of Russia, the key innovations will affect the organization of learning:

Flexibility in level selection. Students will have the right to study all subjects only at a basic level, without being required to deepen into individual disciplines.

Specialization within profiles. The six main profiles (natural science, technology, etc.) will remain, but schools will be able to create narrow classes within them. For example, for the technology profile, a focus can be made on engineering or IT, or within the humanities profile, a class with a focus on pedagogy can be opened, specified Maxim Kostenko. The curricula of such classes will include not only in-depth study of profile disciplines but also special courses.

Updated content. Programs in mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology will become more practice-oriented. The main task is to bring educational material closer to real scientific and technological challenges, reported the head of ISMO.

Updating the material and technical base

For the first time, the standard will include a mandatory minimum list of equipment for subject classrooms.

«This measure is intended to create equal minimum conditions for learning in all schools of the country, to guarantee the implementation of the educational program in full regardless of the school«s geographical location,» stressed Kostenko.

What exactly will appear:

For physics, chemistry, biology classrooms: laboratory tables, kits for practical work (optics, mechanics), demonstration instruments, a telescope (for physics), web cameras for working with instruments.

For mathematics: a set of drawing equipment for the board, stereometric sets, models of geometric figures.

For the subject FSDM (Fundamentals of Security and Defense of the Motherland): gas masks, sanitary stretchers, a training model of a Kalashnikov assault rifle, sets of materials on UAVs.

Mandatory dictionary: each school must provide every student with a Russian language dictionary in print or digital format.

What schools need to do

Maxim Kostenko described in detail a phased preparation plan that school principals are recommended to start now.

Conduct a needs analysis: based on surveys of 8th–9th grade students and their parents, analysis of the regional labor market, to determine the most in-demand narrow specializations.

Develop network models: establish partnerships with universities, colleges, technoparks, and enterprises to develop and conduct special courses.

Conduct an audit and plan purchases: carry out an inventory of equipment in subject classrooms, compare with the new list, and draw up a plan for acquiring missing items.

Adjust curricula and prepare personnel: develop programs for new courses and plan advanced training for subject teachers.

«The transition to the new standard will be smooth, no one will require schools to have all equipment by September 1, 2027, but over the remaining year and a half, management teams will have serious analytical and organizational work ahead,» Maxim Kostenko is quoted by RIA Novosti.