Overview of the educational system

The system of education in the Russian Federation comprises:

successive educational programmes and the State educational standard;

educational institutions in which educational programmes and the State educational standard are implemented;

administrative and other bodies and organizations which govern the educational system.

In the Russian Federation, all educational programmes are of two types (cf., Diagram 1):

Diagram 1. Scheme of the Education System of the Russian Federation.

general education;

professional education.

General education is aimed at the intellectual, moral, emotional, and physical development of the individual; at shaping his or her general cultural level; at developing his or her ability to adapt himself or herself to life in society, and at the setting of the foundations which will enable individuals to make a conscious choice of a professional education programme and to cope with it.

General education comprises:

pre-school education;

primary general education;

basic general education;

secondary (complete) general education.

Professional education is aimed at the continued development of an individual in the process of which he or she acquires a professional qualification and at the preparation of graduates to exercise a profession. Since in the Russian Federation all programmes, except general education programmes, lead to diplomas or to diplomas and degrees as well as to professional qualifications and give the right to exercise professions, they are called professional education programmes. Thus professional education covers the following:

vocational education (nachalnoe professionalnoe obrazovanie);


non-university level higher education (srednee professionalnoe obrazovanie);


university level higher education (vysshee professionalnoe obrazovanie);


postgraduate education including doctoral study programmes (poslevuzovskoe professionalnoe obrazovanie).

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