Improving the Educational Background Level and Quality of the Indigenous Small-Numbered Peoples of the North: Problems and Prospects

Abstract

The article considers the age and the educational structures of the indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North (ISNPN). Considerable attention is paid to the peculiarities of the development of the education system that are associated with the preserving of the ISNPN identity.The Object of the Study. The indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North.The Subject of the Study. The educational level of the ISNPN and causes that prevent its increasing.The Purpose of the Study. Studying the dynamics of the age and educational structures of the ISNPN population and determining the problems of the development of the educational system for the ISNPN.The main Provisions of the Article. The most significant problem for the ISNPN at present is preserving their identity while they integrate into up-to-date society. If the education system takes into account the ethnic peculiarities of children it can be a tool for the resolution of such a contradiction. The second most important problem is the young age structure of the ISNPN with an educational level below the national average even despite its noticeable increase after 2002 and the low availability of quality education. This leads to economic losses due to inefficient use of labour resources adapted to live and work in the harsh conditions of the North as well as to social ones, which is expressed in a lower value of the level of human capital of the ISNPN. The third problem is underestimating peculiarities of the development of ISNPN in educational programs, which makes it difficult to them to assimilate knowledge. To solve these problems, a set of measures is being implemented. It includes several directions. First, the training of pedagogical personnel intended for work with indigenous peoples is carried out, and children and teachers are taught the ISNPN languages. Second, an education system that allows you to combine home schooling and education in a boarding-type educational institution as well as help to adapt to life in a big city is being created. Third, forms of education that are engaged in vocational orientation are developing (for example, agroschools). Nevertheless, in spite of the great need for workers with vocational education, their number is clearly fewer at the moment than the ISNPN require, and the measures, that are implemented to preserve their identity, are not sufficient