Second foreign language at school in 2019-2020

The standard of general education, developed by the Ministry of Education and Science, involves the study of a second foreign language - French, German, Spanish or Chinese - by students in grades 5-9. However, not all educational institutions introduced a second foreign language in the school in 2019. What changes should schoolchildren and their parents expect in 2019-2020?

Current situation

Talk about introducing a second foreign language in schools has been ongoing for a long time, since 2010. Therefore, the employees of the Ministry of Education in their Letter No. 08-1214 of 05/17/2018 explained that the content of the educational program is developed and agreed upon by each individual educational institution independently, according to Federal State Educational Standard No. 412 of 05/17/2012, approved by Orders of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation No. 373 dated 10/06/2009 and No. 1897 dated 05/17/2012

When drawing up the curriculum, employees of general education institutions are obliged to take into account the list of disciplines that students must study in accordance with the requirements of the Federal State Educational Standard. The academic minimum for educational programs in Russia is established by Art. 12 and 28 of the Federal Law No. 273 of December 29, 2012, “On Education”.

In accordance with GEF, the list of compulsory disciplines that should be taught in all schools include:

• Russian;
• native language;
• literature;
• foreign;
• second foreign language;
• history - universal and of Russia;
• mathematics - geometry and algebra;
• social science;
• geography;
• the basics of spiritual and moral culture;
• music;
• Fine arts;
• LIFE SAFETY FUNDAMENTALS;
• technology;
• physical education;
• computer science;
• physics;
• biology;
• chemistry.

If you refer to clause 9.3. GEF No. 413 dated 05/17/2012 with current adjustments from 06/29/2017, it can be noted that the section “Foreign Languages” includes such objective results of mastering school disciplines as:

• foreign;
• the second foreign is at the basic level.

Compulsory study of a foreign language is also prescribed in Part 1 of Section V of the Strategy for Innovative Development of the Russian Federation. According to the results of mastering the program, the student should have the following skills:

• ability to communicate;
• primary knowledge of the cultural characteristics of the countries of the studied languages ​​and the ability to build their behavior in accordance with the standards adopted in a foreign country;
• be able to communicate with carriers at the threshold level;
• use the skills of information search in English (or other - depending on the program being studied) resources for educational purposes.

Despite the above circumstances, right up to 2019, the standards of the Federal State Educational Standard of the Ministry of Education and Science were considered by educational institutions as an act of a purely recommendatory nature. The directors of lyceums, gymnasiums and schools independently made decisions about the need to add a particular program to the curriculum.

What changes to expect in 2019

Whether the second language will be introduced without fail in Russian educational institutions is a rather controversial issue. Based on the letter of the Ministry of Education and Science No. 08-1214 of 05/17/2018, it can be judged that the second foreign student should be included in general education standards and apply to students in grades 5-9. However, in practice, there are a number of difficulties that hinder the implementation of the requirements of the Ministry.

The main problems due to which many schools still do not comply with the requirements of the GEF are:

• lack of professional staff;
• parental disagreement with increased burden on children;
• lack of training materials and programs for mastering a new discipline;
• lack of free time in the approved staffing table.

In connection with the above circumstances, the letter is still advisory in nature and, as of the beginning of 2019, the second foreign language has not become an obligatory element of the curriculum. Officials from the Ministry of Education are soberly assessing the current situation and are aware that, as of today, the staff of competent teachers in Russian schools has not been formed, and there is also no methodological readiness to implement the GEF standard. This means that parents have a whole year to prepare their children for mastering a second language in 2020.

Today, the decision about which foreign language will become compulsory for study is made solely by the administration of the educational institution. German remains the most popular mainly due to the recommendation of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation and the program “German is the first second foreign” initiated by the Goethe Institute (under the Embassy of Germany) and MAUPN.

If changes are introduced in 2020, parents of first-graders should not worry about increasing the educational burden on their children. The fact is that changes will be introduced in stages. From the 1st grade, children, as before, I will study only English or German as the main one, and from the 5th grade I will start learning the second language. We are talking about secondary schools, without in-depth study of languages.

If a child goes to the 6th grade in 2020, then even with the introduction of a new educational standard, changes will not affect him, since the training program for the second foreign language is designed for 6 years, i.e. for children from grades 5 to 11 inclusive. It should be understood that according to the “differentiated approach”, each region can independently decide on the volume of the disciplines studied: everything will depend on the place of residence of the family.

Read also:

• How many weeks in the school year 2019-2020
• Entry to 1st grade for 2019-2020
• New certification of teachers since 2020

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