St Petersburg University Online School Opens in Latvia
Moscow House in Riga recently hosted a presentation of the Online School for Latvian schoolchildren, a long-distance education project of St Petersburg University.
St Petersburg University has launched several long-distance series of lectures for Latvian schoolchildren, in three subjects: Russian Language, Russian Literature and Russian History. The University’s Online School will allow these children to undergo long-distance tutoring provided by qualified teachers from the University, receive a unique educational experience, and, at the same time, broaden their horizons and develop their general knowledge.
The Online School presentation was conducted by Sergey Andryushin, St Petersburg University Deputy Rector for Foreign Affairs, and Dmitrii Ptiushkin, Acting Director of the St Petersburg University Language Testing Centre. They acquainted the Latvian teachers, schoolchildren and their parents with the history of the University and the conditions that have been established to provide a superior teaching environment. They also described the curriculum and talked about the career prospects of its graduates. On top of that, they informed the audience about the University’s Olympiad in Russian as a Foreign Language, for which registration is open at the present time, and about the Russian Government’s testing of Russian as a foreign language. A certificate showing that they have been tested might be useful for high school graduates when enrolling in the University. Participants in this event thanked the University for all it has done to preserve and develop the Russian language in Latvia.
As part of the visit, a meeting was held between the representatives of the University and the Russian ambassador to Latvia, Yevgeny Lukyanov. They discussed the University’s international projects and collaboration with the embassy. Mr Lukyanov voiced his support for the Online School project and expressed interest in further cooperation with St Petersburg University.
The first online lesson was “attended” by around 40 schoolchildren from Riga, Daugavpils and Rēzekne. These students were pleased and expressed their firm intention to take the whole course, which will continue until the end of May. Upon completion of the course, students will receive a certificate. Recordings of the lessons that have been conducted will be posted on the University website, where they will be available at any time to anyone who is interested.