The plenary session of the All-Russian Congress of Physics Teachers, which is taking place these days in the Sirius Park of Science and Art, opened with a report by MEPhI Rector Vladimir Shevchenko, who raised the issue of the need to improve school physics education in the name of better training of qualified engineers.
The rector of MEPhI began his speech by saying that the lack of qualified engineers is a challenge to the country's security. Meanwhile, schoolchildren are less and less likely to choose physics for passing the exam. If in 2018 physics was an elective subject for 150,000 school graduates, then in 2023 it will be only for 89,000. And only 9 thousand of yesterday's schoolchildren passed the Unified State Examination in physics at a level of more than 81 points, which is completely insufficient.
There are many reasons for this - there is a shortage of physics teachers in schools (the country lacks about 30 thousand teachers), and the fact that in many educational areas the Unified State Examination in Informatics is an alternative to physics, and the fact that the level of knowledge of physics when admitted to pedagogical universities are lower than those in engineering - that is, future physics teachers sometimes understand the subject worse than those whom they will have to train. Finally, both schoolchildren and their parents have a prejudice that engineering and physical specialties are difficult and financially unprofitable.
Certain problems exist in the field of higher education. Sometimes the training of engineers and the training of researchers are sharply separated: for example, only researchers are trained, and those who failed to become scientists become engineers. MEPhI has always tried to combine these specializations. Vladimir Shevchenko expressed confidence that if an engineer is engaged not in operation, but in the creation of new equipment, then knowledge of a university physics course is mandatory for him. “Good engineering is fundamentally a science,” the rector emphasized.
Having spoken about the problems that exist today in education, the rector of MEPhI brought to the attention of the audience a number of proposals with the help of which the situation could be corrected.
First of all, computer science should stop being an alternative to physics in the Unified State Examination. Admission to all engineering and technical areas should be based on the amount of the Unified State Examination in the specialties "profile mathematics", "physics" and "computer science", and the Russian language should be taken into account only according to the "pass / fail" system.
A "cross-cutting" educational environment should be created for children and youth, including fairy tales, comics, video lessons, and simulators for passing exams.
The representation of different topics in the Unified State Examination must be balanced.
The school needs support - grants are required for various regional initiatives, it is imperative to expand cooperation with schools from universities and their industrial partners - primarily Rostec, Roskosmos and Rosatom State Corporations.
It would not be bad to revive the Soviet experience of teacher training: a system of additional education and exchange of experience should be created for physics teachers.
Finally, the Olympiad movement needs to be improved - the list of Olympiads of the Russian Council of School Olympiads should be adjusted taking into account the Strategy of the Scientific and Technical Revolution. Well, international cooperation in the field of physical education could be expanded beyond participation in traditional olympiads - for example, the show jumping "Junior" for BRICS could be organized.
The applause that greeted Vladimir Shevchenko's speech testified that the voiced proposals were supported by many representatives of the teaching community.
