Recent changes to the budgetary basis of schools in Russia has received a mixed response from parents, with a variety of views on whether the quality of education is being improved. Reductions in state support for preschool education raises questions about the ability of less affluent parents to prepare their children for first grade. Perhaps more…

Parents of children of preschool age ask school education to meet certain requirements. Research shows that there are four main concerns: assessing the optimal age to begin schooling, how to choose an appropriate school, the goals of the educational program, and the professional and personal qualities of the schoolteacher.

The empirical base for this article was provided by the results of two surveys of households of regional and Moscow samples, conducted by the Public-Opinion Foundation in September and October 2004. This article focuses on a description of the regional survey, and uses the Moscow data as an example of a more developed market of educational…

In Russia, preschool education, like higher education, is not compulsory, and access to it is not guaranteed by the state. At the same time, "the provision of state guarantees of access to and equal opportunities for acquiring a full-fledged education and achievement of new, up-to-date, high-quality preschool education" has been…

The present article is a continuation of a study of the life values and fears regarding their future on the part of parents of children of older preschool age. The raw material was obtained by questionnaire surveying 941 parents (334 fathers and 607 mothers) whose children were going to kindergarten. In this work the authors attempted to show the…