St Petersburg University’s 'Online school' opens its doors to students from six countries
St Petersburg University is launching the third Online School for high school students from foreign countries. This year along with students from Latvia, Estonia, Spain, and Kazakhstan, students from Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan will be able to attend virtual lectures delivered by St Petersburg University lecturers.
The Online School allows students to choose the subjects they need and create a convenient schedule wherever they are. All classes are recorded, which means that any student can replay the classes if necessary. Students who have successfully passed the final assessment receive a certificate that gives them additional points when they enter the University. The students of the Online School often come to continue their studies in Russia.
Recordings of past sessions of the ‘Online School’ of St Petersburg University
Dmitry Ptyushkin, Acting Director of the Language Testing Centre of St Petersburg University, noted that every year the project is expanding and the number of participants is increasing: while last year the number of participants was 150, in 2020 it increased threefold to 450 students.
'We have conducted a survey among parents to find out what new subjects they would like to see in the curriculum. As a result, we have added mathematics, the geography of Russia, and social studies to the existing curriculum, which includes Russian language, the history of Russia and literature. The school has also introduced a new discipline – teaching Russian as a foreign language in addition to Russian as a native language,' said Dmitry Ptyushkin. 'Now we are developing the study programme and negotiating with school teachers, who have received awards for the best pedagogical work, to involve them in the project.
Work has not stopped on creating courses for high school students. There are plans to launch classes for year 6 to 9 pupils at the end of November 2020. As many as 1,200 Latvian citizens have already expressed their interest in participating in this unique programme.
We are developing a system under which a learner will be able to study for about three to five years instead of a year as it is now.
Dmitry Ptyshkin, Acting Director of the Language Testing Centre
St Petersburg University launched the 'Online School' project in Latvia three years ago. It was initiated by the Latvian-Russian Society for Cultural and Economic Cooperation 'Slavija' from Rēzekne, students from Russian-speaking families and their parents who wanted to keep in touch with their historical homeland. The online lessons give students access to courses delivered by qualified teachers from St Petersburg University and the Academic Gymnasium named after D. K. Faddeev of St Petersburg University, to gain a unique educational experience and broaden their knowledge.