Special operation benefits: whose children will be lucky this year when entering universities

Irina Mishina

New quotas and new benefits

Education has long been considered the main step of the social elevator.

That is why parents strive to invest in the education of their children with all the forces and all available means. Preparation for admission begins already in high school. There is practically no family that would not resort to the help of tutors or preparatory classes. For reference: on the service Profi.ru the cost of an hour of classes with a tutor in preparation for the Unified State Exam ranges from 1,500 to 5,000 rubles. The cost of six months of full-time preparatory courses at the Moscow State University for high school students, for example, in mathematics, is about 30 thousand rubles.

At the same time, last year, the passing score increased for a number of specialties at once. At MSU, the increase in passing scores affected 18 areas at once — for example, geology (from 201 to 251), applied mathematics and physics (from 231 to 275), mechanics (from 270 to 312). At the HSE, the passing score increased in 13 programs at once: the score increased in urban planning (by 6%), law (by 4%), business management (by 3%). At the prestigious MIPT, the passing score did not decrease: out of 1006 enrolled in the first year of bachelor's and specialty, every second entered on a benefit for winning the Olympics, and out of those who entered the Unified State Exam competition, every third hundred—point student.

Soon, the "beneficiaries" who received priority due to knowledge will be added to the "beneficiaries" credited due to the merits of their parents. Unlike disabled and orphaned children, who are enrolled in the budget without exams as part of the general enrollment, a separate quota is provided for those associated with the special operation in Ukraine and their children. The right to admission within this quota is granted to: children of participants in a special military operation in the territories of Ukraine, Donetsk People's Republic, Luhansk People's Republic, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions. We are talking about the children of military personnel, volunteers and employees of state agencies in which the law provides for military service, who took part in hostilities. It is also clarified that heroes of the Russian Federation, holders of three Orders of Courage, as well as children of servicemen who were injured, wounded or concussed during their military service, will be accepted to study at the university within the quota without conducting entrance exams. The rest of the children of the participants of the special operation will enter universities by passing the Unified State Exam or entrance tests, which will be determined by the university independently. The corresponding Decree No. 268 has already been published on the Kremlin's website. It has entered into force and will be applied for the entrance campaign to universities this year. It is reported that 588,044 budget places have already been allocated for new "beneficiaries" for 2022/23.

"On someone else's horses - to heaven"?

There were questions among the specialists.

"It is sad to admit children with lower scores than the rest to the university. Their fathers may be heroes and patriots, but you can't ride into paradise on someone else's horses", - says Honored Teacher of Russia, Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences Evgeny Yamburg. – Children themselves must fight for their place in life. It's one thing to accept children from the DPR and LPR, where there are attacks, where there are practically no conditions for studying. But the children of heroes, prosecutors, the wounded… In general, it can be dangerous for parents: children will get used to living at their expense".

Irina Abankina, a professor at the Higher School of Economics, disagreed with him: "Parents always take an active part in preparing children for admission to university, pay for additional classes. But if it so happened that the parents fought and could not "invest" in the child's education? It will be right if the state supports the children of such parents, it will look like public recognition, as compensation for what the parents could not give."

Probably, these benefits will not affect all universities: for example, at the complex faculties of Moscow State University – such as the VMK and the physical one, they have not yet heard anything about preferential places for the children of heroes and participants of the special operation. "I don't see the point in such preferential admission to difficult faculties, and in general… It can be a study before the first session. It is known that in Switzerland, where you can enroll on a budget without exams at any university, there is such a rule: if a student is expelled after the first session for failing, he has no right to enter a university for life. As for those who received benefits due to the merits of their parents, I assume that there will be special adapted programs for them, because those who actually entered without an exam and passed the Unified State Exam by 95-100 points or "Olympiad student" are, as they say, two big differences", - says associate professor of the Faculty of Physics of Moscow State University, Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, municipal Deputy Andrey Larichev. Not successful excellent students

There is also a question about the quality of specialists who, after so many benefits, universities will begin to graduate.

Experts in recent years have noted a decrease in the level of knowledge of specialists in industry, engineering and agriculture – where competent professionals are most needed now. "The educational programs of secondary specialized and higher educational institutions do not correspond to the specialties and professions that are needed in the market now. They tend to study mathematics and applied sciences, and competencies related to the same engineering are very weak. The gap between real needs and education is about 30 years, — said Dmitry Tretyakov, chairman of the Committee on Labor Relations and Labor Protection of the association "Support of Russia"."Now employers have a request for highly qualified personnel.

And if a person with average abilities studied on average according to a program adapted to his abilities, who would need such an employee? In addition, "beneficiaries" are unlikely to go to study for complex specialties – most likely they will choose fashionable and prestigious ones like public administration, finance or design. But we already have an overabundance of such specialists. The national economy is no longer able to digest such a number of government officials, lawyers and economists", - said Andrey Larichev, associate professor of the Faculty of Physics at Moscow State University, Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences. According to him, the forecast of the future of "beneficiaries" is very vague. However, one should not exclude the personal factor: a purposeful person, even if he entered with low scores, overcoming problems, will eventually make progress. According to university professors, such cases are especially common among visitors from the hinterland storming Moscow and St. Petersburg.

At the same time, a study by HSE Vice-Rector Sergey Roshchin on the relationship between academic performance and employment shows that grades, even the highest that a student receives at a university, have absolutely no effect on his success at work. In this sense, higher education can generally be considered as a chance that everyone uses in their own way, depending on their character, capabilities and luck.