Village School Graduates: Educational Strategies

Government statistical data and materials from sociological studies are used to examine the educational strategies of village youth. Analysis is carried out in a comparative manner – the processes and phenomena which characterize village youths are compared with such attributed to urban youths. The statistical data is analyzed within the dynamics of the period from the 1990’s through the 2010’s. It is revealed that village youths’ educational strategies, compared to those of their urban peers, are shaped under the influence of common factors of living conditions changes, the development of school and professional education systems, shifts in the demographic situation (transition from the abundant generations of the late 1990’s and early 2000’s to the sparse generations of the late 2000’s). After finishing basic schooling most village youths choose to go down the “non-academic” path: they transfer to secondary professional training, while young men and women from cities, for the most part, continue to attend day high school. Those who are currently receiving a complete secondary education in rural areas are much more socially selected relative to the social structure of the village population, when compared to their peers from urban secondary schools relative to the general city population. These village youths are to a much greater extent than before consolidated in their pursuit of higher education. As a result a situation has developed towards the early 2010’s when the majority of rural high school graduates enrolled into universities, so their educational attitudes and their actual choices turned out to be quite similar to the aspirations of youths from cities. Shown is the demographic situation’s influence (during varying chronological periods) on youths’ options at certain stages of choosing an educational path, and also indicated is how they are affected by such a crucial factor as the existing local structure, a network of educational facilities for various levels of general and professional education.

rural youth, urban youth, educational strategies, graduates from general secondary school, graduates from high school, secondary specialized education, higher education.

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