We are talking about the mandatory Unified State Exam in the Russian language, specialized mathematics, physics and computer science. Minister of Education Sergey Kravtsov announced this proposal during a meeting on improving the quality of teaching physics at school in order to improve higher engineering education.
Sergey Kravtsov explained that at the Unified State Examination in the Russian language, you can leave the minimum passing score – 36 or 24, and focus on profile mathematics, physics and computer science. According to him, an increase in the popularity of the Unified State Examination in informatics is now recorded. This is due to the fact that the subject is easier to pass, so often graduates choose computer science “to the detriment of physics.”
Kravtsov’s words were also confirmed by Minister of Science and Higher Education Valery Falkov. He said that this year’s admission campaign showed a decrease in the number of people taking the exam in physics. As a result, the subject dropped to sixth place in popularity on the USE. At the same time, the average score also decreased slightly: from 55.9 in 2021 to 53.84 in 2022.
Falkov said that this issue was discussed with leading classical and technical universities, as well as with engineering universities, TASS reports. As a result, the Ministry of Education and Science sets as its task, like colleagues in schools, “drawing attention to the popularization of physics as a backbone subject for engineering and technical education, and, of course, work with physics teachers.”
In turn, Sergei Kravtsov said that the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Education and Science are proposing to develop and approve a concept for the development of engineering education. He noted that university rectors should determine the indicators, but not to the detriment of other subjects. It is also necessary to strengthen career guidance in schools and focus on training personnel for the military-industrial complex.
Formerly online edition “Teacher’s newspaper” led the words of Valery Falkov, who said that since the number of graduates choosing physics for the exam is decreasing, and the average USE score is decreasing, it was decided to update the concept of teaching physics in schools.
Falkov explained that university rectors, together with the Ministry of Education and Science, have already prepared a new concept for teaching physics at school. It aims to increase interest in this subject, as well as to improve the quality of its teaching.
