Abstract:

The choice of a school is an important indicator of the implementation of the principles and ideals of civil society in the country. Thanks to him, parents and children can realize their needs and interests, but not only follow the educational trajectories set by the state. At the same time, the freedom of parental choice of school is considered as a factor that increases social inequality. The freedom to choose a school depends on the historical, political, socio-cultural specifics of the country.

The purpose of the article is to analyze the singularity of school choice by Russian parents. Research tasks:
1) to study the institutional possibilities of parental choice of school in Russia;
2) to identify the criteria of parental choice of school;
3) to analyze the practices of parental choice of school.

The empirical basis of the article is the results of sociological studies of parents of school students in Yekaterinburg (the administrative center of the Sverdlovsk region of the Russian Federation) conducted in 2019-2021:
1) mass survey (2019, n=7281);
2) in-depth interview (2021, n=20).

The article shows that the choice Russian parental of school for their children is limited by the admission rules established by the education authorities. To be able to enroll / transfer to school, a child must reach a certain age, have no contraindications for health reasons, live (be registered) in the territory for which the selected school is assigned. Parents and their children may be refused admission to a public school if there are no available places and/or the child does not meet the criteria for individual selection (if such is provided for by the school's charter).

Russian parents strive to provide their children with high-quality education. According to the parents surveyed, the predictor of quality education is the professionalism of teachers (more than 70%). When parental choice of school 86.9% of parents are guided primarily by this criterion. In addition, for 69% of parents, it is important that the school is nearby to home.

Some parents implement a passive strategy of choosing a school, some - an active strategy. A passive strategy means entering a school that is prescribed by the territory of residence. An active strategy is implemented in the form of finding the best school option for training. This strategy is based on the analysis of parental resources and the abilities of children to learn in it. For an active strategy of choosing a school, parents use legal methods (moving to a new place of residence, choosing a private school) and illegal methods (fictitious registration, corruption schemes). An active school choice strategy is more often implemented by parents with higher human and social capital and/or economic resources.

Keywords:

Parental choice of school, children, institutional possibilities of parental choice, criteria of parental choice of school, practices choice of school.