Russia's revised national education policy reflects ICPD international education agenda.

• Author: Isakov, Yuriy N.

An entire chapter of the Programme of Action adopted at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), held in Cairo, Egypt in 1994, is devoted to education, characterized as a "key factor in sustainable development", as well as "an indispensable tool for the improvement of the quality of life". The Programme of Action sets forth the following objectives: to achieve universal access to quality education, with particular priority being given to primary and technical education and job training, and combating illiteracy and eliminating gender disparities in access to, retention in and support for education; to promote non-formal education for young people, guaranteeing equal access for women and men to literacy centres; and to introduce and improve the content of the curriculum, so as to promote greater responsibility and awareness on the interrelationships between population and sustainable development, health issues, including reproductive health and gender equity.

The Russian Federation's education policy, reflecting the overall national interests in this sphere, takes fully into account the international education agenda attached to the implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action, as well as world trends that call for profound changes in the system of education, e.g. transition to a post-industrial information society, emergence of global challenges that can only be solved by international cooperation requiring quite a new thinking from the younger generation, sustained economic growth, competition and reduction of unskilled and semiskilled labour and deep structural changes in the sphere of employment.

The Russian Government is implementing measures to ensure its citizens' right to education, guaranteed by the Constitution and protected by Federal laws. Basic principles of education policy are stated in the national doctrine for education through 2025, and the Plan of Action for the implementation of the 2002 Dakar Initiative--"Education for All"--has been endorsed. National policy is based on ensuring a quality of education that meets up-to-date requirements, while retaining its fundamental nature and compliance with the present and future needs of individuals, society and the State.

Full-scale political and socio-economic reforms of the late 1980s and early 1990s considerably affected the Russian system of education. They enabled the academic autonomy of colleges and universities, a variety of educational...