Ural Residents Debate Unified State Exam Amid Rise of Quadrobers and TikTokers

Authorities have started thinking about canceling the Unified State Exam (USE) and the Main State Exam (MSE). According to State Duma Vice Speaker Pyotr Tolstoy, changes are needed in the entire education system because it was copied from Western standards. He stated that instead of the now-familiar USE, it is necessary to return to traditional graduation and entrance exams.

We asked E1.RU readers in our Telegram channel how they feel about this. We collected a selection of various opinions.

Many supported the cancellation of the USE, but for different reasons. Some believe it is too much stress for children, while others are sure that the exam and preparation for it do not give schoolchildren any knowledge.

«We should cancel it altogether and not come up with anything, there»s no need to drive children into stress from a young age. Who needs it — in practice, everything works without exams.«

«We took exams, didn»t experience any torture, and we studied in school, not constantly taking practice USE exams as now. Endless practice USE exams, and at the same time the whole school isn«t learning.»

«This is the right decision! The USE urgently needs to be replaced by exams that would actually confirm the knowledge gained in school. Tickets, essays not by template, tests as before, covering the main topics of the course in the subject. This is certainly a difficult process, and we won»t get the desired results right away. But if we don«t remove the MSE and USE, we will continue to reap the fruits of illiteracy of subsequent generations.»

«Of course, it should be canceled. Quadrobers (a term for quad bike enthusiasts) and TikTokers have grown up. 7 grades — and welcome to working-class professions, otherwise they»re used to sitting on the «internet».«

At the same time, there were also many voices in favor of keeping the USE. Some fear that instead of the USE, «something worse» might appear.

«It»s scary that they will come up with something instead of the USE…«

«An entire education system and a generation have grown up on the USE, it»s not so easy to just cancel it.«

«The USE is a cool exam that gives a person a lot of opportunities. Don»t intimidate your children, don«t bully them, and then the USE will be an ordinary exam for them. There»s nothing terrible about it. Study, comrades, and everything will work out.«

«It»s better to take the USE once than first exams at school and then a bunch of special exams for every university you want to enter. Although, if you think about it, most likely they only want to make everything even more difficult for us.«

«The USE is a very convenient thing because children take exams once and can submit the results to several universities. But it would be better if all exams were based on the school curriculum, without the »profile« label… In school, such education essentially doesn»t exist, you must give a bunch of money for a tutor to pass this profile exam.«

Before, of course, we didn«t have such convenience, when we had to take exams at school, then at the university. Moreover, there was often no opportunity to take exams at several universities because exams often took place at all institutes on the same day.

«Don»t cancel it. Those who prepare get high scores on the USE. Those who don«t prepare get low scores. Everything is fair.»