AACRAO IES has been following the latest developments in the ongoing territorial dispute between Russia and Ukraine over the Crimean peninsula and the city of Sevastopol and its effect on the region’s system of education.
According to the major Russian news portal gazeta.ru, Crimean school graduates will receive Russian-style credentials at the end of this academic year. However, Russia is planning to hold negotiations with Ukraine to enable those who choose to receive Ukrainian-style credentials at the end of their study to do so. The Russian Minister of Education and Science, Dmitry Livanov, states that since Crimean graduates followed a different secondary school curriculum, they will be able to choose whether to sit for the obligatory Unified State Examination, which is the entrance exam into the institutions of higher education, according to news portal. Those who do not wish to take this exam will be offered an opportunity to sit for traditional entrance exams at each admitting institution. Though several Russian institutions are considering an offer of "simplified" admission for applicants from Crimea, at this time it is unclear what it may consist of. Livanov has also mentioned that a new federal university will be founded at Taurida National V.I. Vernadsky University (TNU), which will encompass regional institutions as well as scientific organizations. Crimean higher education institutions will begin to be monitored for quality starting 2015.
The Minister of Education and Science, Youth and Sports of the Crimean Autonomous Republic, Natalya Goncharova, has stated that institutions that offer general and pre-school education will receive a three-year license to operate during this transition.
Meanwhile Ukrainian website fakty.ua reports that those students who wish to transfer to Ukrainian higher education institutions are offered special treatment and will be admitted to any higher education institution without any ministerial approval. Many of these students are not able to present any academic records or come with partial records, as they are denied those by the institutions that they attended. The website says that so far about 300 students have transferred into the Ukrainian higher education institutions.
According to gazeta.ru, 80 institutions of higher education in Crimea enroll 59.6 thousand students, secondary school enroll 182 thousand students, of which 15 thousand of will graduate this year.
If you would like to learn more about credentials from different countries, please consider attending the Summer Institute for International Admissions July 28 - August 1, 2014
The 21st Annual Summer Institute hosted by AACRAO International Education Services will be held July 28 to August 1, 2014 in Washington, DC at The Embassy Suites. Open to undergraduate and graduate admissions, Summer Institute introduces those new to international admissions to the best practices in foreign credential evaluations. Topics of discussion include: various country education systems, foreign academic records, and application processing. Country presentations will cover the top sending countries according to the 2013 Open Doors Survey.
Registrants also have the opportunity to learn more about international student recruitment during Summer Institute at a special "Recruitment" session on Monday, July 28th. Guest Speakers include: ETS, Linden Tours, and EducationUSA. Attendees have the opportunity to learn about the student visa process, I-20s issuance, armchair recruiting, agents, and more.
Registration opens April 7, 2014 and closes on July 7, 2014. Click here for more information.