To the problem of accessibility of high-quality general education in the Russian Arctic: an assessment of the conditions for the implementation of educational programs

Abstract

Introduction. The priorities of the state's educational policy formulated in the federal center actualize the problem of developing scientific and methodological support for managerial decisions taken within the framework of this policy. For the Russian Arctic as one of the four groups of priority geostrategic territories of the country such a task is to increase the availability of high-quality general education. Considering the Federal State Educational Standard, the practical solution of this problem implies the alignment of the conditions for the implementation of educational programs. The purpose of the study is to create and test a set of criteria, indicators and procedures for assessing the conditions for the implementation of general education programs in the territorial educational segment. Materials and methods. Using the Theil index, an indicator of inequality measurement, we assessed the difference of system-wide, technical, educational, personnel, pedagogical and financial conditions for the implementation of general education programs in the regions of the Russian Arctic according to 23 criteria in the context of urban and rural schools. The results of the federal statistical observation of activities in the field of general education have become the information base of the calculations. Results. In the Arctic educational segment, according to most criteria characterizing the conditions under study, there is a slight difference: the value of the Theil index does not reach 0.1 according to 18 criteria in cities and 17 criteria in rural areas of the Russian Arctic. However, we noted maximum difference according to five criteria common to urban and rural schools, relating to system-wide (the entropy index varies from 1.05 to 1.23), technical (from 0.15 to 0.63), educational (from 0.11 to 0.34) and pedagogical (from 0.12 to 0.89) conditions for the implementation of general education programs. The difference structure of these conditions in urban schools is determined primarily by differences within federal districts (according to 14 criteria out of 23), while the uneven distribution of the values of the analyzed criteria in rural schools (according to 16 criteria out of 23) depends mainly on differences between federal districts. Conclusion. Based on the calculated values, priority directions for leveling the conditions for the implementation of general education programs in the Arctic educational segment are identified. The results of this study can be used in the activities of both regional education authorities and at the level of the territorial educational segment to assess and make informed decisions related to increasing the availability of quality general education.