Izhevsk
Universities
University in Izhevsk
December 9, 2003
After my meander I met Katya at Udmurt State University to talk to her English class.
I was not real impressed; the school is only six buildings and the teaching is…
well horrid. The university’s exterior is interesting, kind of run down, but that
adds some history and character.
Upon entering, each building has a coat check or two, huge mirrors with a little
shelf running along the bottom, and a food stand. All these mirrors, which dominate
the entrance of each building are lined with girls doing their hair and scarves.
It was here that I met Katya.
The university system follows that of the elementary school: students stay together
every year from kindergarten (or their equivalent) through high school, so Katya
is with the same people all day everyday for five years in university also. Plus
she told me that one must choose his/her major (although they call it a specialty
or main subject) immediately upon entry and you only receive a “diploma” if you
graduate with honors; if you just graduate you receive some other certificate… I’m
not sure what it’s called.
Universities are hard to get into, but they’re the same as schools; professors get
paid little and so do very little; I know one woman who was a professor, but quit
in order to become a secretary, a better paying job.
University is five years, but typically students enter at 17 or 18 so graduate at
the same age many American students graduate from college. The universities also
give grades on two scales. One is to earn it, but this is very difficult. The second
is to pay for it, which is uncommon, but almost the rule in highly sought after
departments like law. This allows the rich to get good grades, a diploma, and therefore
good jobs because they always grade at the top of their classes.
We entered Katya’s English class (mind you these are English majors) and I was appalled
at how terribly they spoke English, it was truly pathetic and the teacher spoke
little better. She asked if the students wanted to talk to me or watch a movie;
having already failed in their attempt to talk to me before class they choose the
movie so the teacher put it in the VCR and left. Everyone talked to each other in
Russian and no one watched the movie but me. At one point the girls left to get
tea, later they left to get food, once the guys left to smoke; the teacher stopped
by two times, half the class was gone each time, but she thought nothing of it and
left… why did she even stop by?
The best part was when there was a break; they stopped the movie and restarted it
after the break, but they weren’t ever watching the movie so why even bother stopping
it? I spoke Russian better than the English teacher spoke English… and she’s teaching
the English majors English at a university.
December 18, 2003
I got to my night class and soon discovered it to be one of the most interesting
classes thus far. They began with an argument about education quality in Udmurtia.
Most feel it's bad (Moscow and St. Petersburg set the standard), some argued
it’s good, but they all quickly came to agree that it doesn’t really matter, because
only money and connections determine financial and professional success. One guy,
who we call Crazy Alexei said that he learned more in one hour at a Moscow university
than five years at the agricultural college in Udmurtia.
December 22, 2003
I asked Tatiana how her weekend was and she said long. University students have
to go to school on some Saturdays and school teachers also have to work on Saturdays,
so I’m quite fortunate I get weekends off.
At one point during class I became fixated on the fact that there aren’t really
unpopular kids here because everyone goes to every class with the same people every
day, for every class, for all 11 years, then get a new group and do it again for
another five years in university. You must like everyone you know, but you really
know only a few people. There are social groups, but they are not popular and unpopular
until they reach the business world, when they’re divided into corrupt and not corrupt.
December 24, 2003
I got home and my host sister, Katya started talking about university classes. Some
classes at Udmurt State University fine the students if they are late or miss class;
so the teacher collect the money and no one seems to find this strange. This however
is only one means of money exchange at universities.
At many, the system of bribery is simple: if you give the person supervising the
exam 3,000 or 4,000 rubles (for a big test, like college entrance exams) you automatically
get a perfect score. Nick is studying law and he said that typically a person needs
a 20 to get into the law department, but he only got a 19. After being accepted
into the program, he naturally thought he’d be struggling to keep up in the program,
but the first week he found out that only five people in his class (out of 32) took
the test, everyone else paid for perfect scores. The department wasn’t at full capacity
and so took the next top five scores… the five smartest people in the class are
the five with the worst entrance exam scores.
This bribery also works for military service, which is required for every male (females
are not allowed in the army) either after school or college. To get out of serving
you pay the doctor 3,000 rubles to write a note saying you are physically incapable
of serving.
The law program is difficult to get into because lawyers are one of the highest
paying professions in Russia; it’s odd as to what occupations pay well and poorly
here. Doctors and professors make very little, whereas the oil industry makes more
money per person than any other occupation (skilled jobs like engineers); lawyers
and government employees aren’t far behind.
December 26, 2003
I went to another university yesterday, the Agricultural Academy. I liked it, the
area is quite beautiful, on the edge of town, and overlooking Kirov’s park; the
population here is typically younger and the atmosphere more vibrant. The class
was very welcoming and interested in meeting me; they gave me two kinds of cake
and tea. Their English was not the great, but were not embarrassed to try and their
curiosity overcame their fear of speaking English in front of a large classroom.
We talked about agriculture since it is the Agricultural Academy, then moved off
topic to Christmas, New Years, politics, and economics.
Everyone from the students to the professors was extremely welcoming and interested.