Abstract:

Education of children, creating the environment for the development of their abilities, satisfaction of their needs for cognitive, aesthetic, and creative activities is getting in the focus of attention in today’s Russia. Besides the mainstream education, supplementary education plays a significant role in solving the mentioned tasks.

The present paper presents the findings of an expedition to Ust-Elegest Village of the Kyzyl Kozhuun (District) of the Republic of Tuva, one of the remote districts of the Russian Federation situated close to the Russian-Mongolian border. The objective of the expedition was to study the current supplementary education opportunities for children and the sociocultural effect they make on the development of the national identity of children of the indigenous peoples and the development of their civil consciousness, as well as to analyze the ways of professional competence development available for the supplementary education teachers.

The present paper contains the analysis of documents, academic, scientific and methodological literature and results of the field experiment (expedition to Ust-Elegest Village of the Kyzyl Kozhuun) that enabled the authors to formulate current problems and to suggest some possible solutions.

The main research methods employed in the present study include a survey, observation and interview of Tuvans in the places of their compact residence. Statistic data were used to evaluate the system of supplementary education for children in the sphere of culture and education, and sociocultural environment of Ust-Elegest Village was studied.

The paper concludes that supplementary education acts as a social lift for a great part of children who fail to get the required quality and/or volume of educational services at school or at home, compensating the shortage of education services or providing alternative opportunities of academic and social achievements.

The concept of the supplementary education programs in the Republic of Tuva is mostly aimed at the preservation of culture, customs, traditional crafts and interests of the local population: for instance, it includes Huresh ethnic wrestling school, courses of culture and tradition of the Tuvan peoples; Er Chol (“The Man’s Way”) and Young Carpenter schools for boys, Kystyn Buduzhu (“Girls’ Virtue”) school; Anyyak Unner, Ugulzalar dance studios, Domisolka vocal studio; Museum Craft, Origins of the Motherland courses for girls etc.

The paper proves that the Supplementary and Advanced Education Institute of Krasnoyarsk State Pedagogical University named after V.P. Astafyev is capable of assisting rural schools and supplementary education institutions’ teachers of the Republic of Tuva, offering them intramural, part-time, extramural advanced education courses with distance education and e-learning technologies, as well as network cooperation-based education opportunities.

Keywords:

Additional education, school children, remote village, Republic of Tyva, Russia, Problems and prospects.