In 2024, St Petersburg University opened 11 Russian Language Training Centres in African countries
More than 3,000 people have already completed academic programmes that were specially developed by St Petersburg University for citizens of foreign countries in accordance with their requests and needs. Aleksandr Babich, Senior Vice-Rector for Youth Policy and Admissions at St Petersburg University, announced these figures at the final meeting of the country operators of Open Education Centres and Russian Language Training Centres.
Open Education Centres and Russian Language Training Centres have been established by the University this year in countries such as Algeria, The Gambia, Egypt, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Niger, Senegal, Tanzania, Tunisia, and South Africa. Their establishment and operation became possible thanks to the support of the Russian Ministry of Education and the foundation for the support of humanities "My History".
During the meeting, Aleksandr Babich, Senior Vice-Rector for Youth Policy and Admissions at St Petersburg University, spoke about how the University has organised international activities and what approaches have been applied to the opening and organisation of the St Petersburg University Open Education Centres.
We pay special attention to the promotion of traditional Russian spiritual and moral values in the work of the centres. All our academic programmes for foreign citizens are based on these principles.
Aleksandr Babich, Senior Vice-Rector for Youth Policy and Admissions at St Petersburg University
This year, more than 3,000 foreign citizens studied full-time at St Petersburg University Open Education Centres. At least six academic programmes adapted to the specifics of each state were implemented in each country. Additionally, about 30 different face-to-face events were held within the framework of the centres, ranging from scientific lectures and educational seminars to festivals of Russian culture.
The launches of Open Education Centres of St Petersburg University in foreign countries are aimed at implementing the Executive Order of the President of the Russian Federation "On the development goals of the Russian Federation through 2030 and for the future until 2036." The document provides for an increase in the number of international students enrolled in higher education academic programmes in Russian educational institutions of higher education and scientific organisations to at least 500,000 people by 2030.
Already this year, we are seeing the results of our work: about 400 citizens of these countries have applied for admission to academic programmes at the University. At the same time, 33 of them successfully passed a difficult competitive selection and became students of our University. We will certainly continue to work in this direction and are confident that next year the number of applicants from these countries will increase even further.
Aleksandr Babich, Senior Vice-Rector for Youth Policy and Admissions at St Petersburg University
Irina Ilicheva, Chief Methodologist of the St Petersburg University Language Testing Centre, spoke about the educational and methodological work carried out by the University in Open Education Centres, as well as the specifics and uniqueness of the methods available at St Petersburg University for teaching Russian as a foreign language.
During the presentation, the participants were introduced to books on Russian as a foreign language, which were prepared and published by the University. The publications were donated to the foundation for the support of humanities "My History".