We are in 94th place in THE Education rankings for 2020.

This placement puts KFU at the top of the Russian universities in education rankings. The results were unveiled yesterday, and today Rector Ilshat Gafurov and Director of the Institute of Psychology and Education Aydar Kalimullin answered the media’s questions.

“This results is especially important to us, because teacher education is the area where KFU was criticized the most. This 94th place in the world attests to the correctness of our choice of the pedagogical education development strategy. We are now awaiting a stiff competition to preserve and improve this position,” shared the Rector.

Among the components of the rankings, citations brought the most points. Kazan Federal University is second in the world in this area.

In his comments, Rector Gafurov also reminded that a few years ago pedagogical education was in trouble – many enrollees showed very low scores in the Unified State Exam, and it was very doubtful that they would become quality teachers. The Institute of Psychology and Education was created, and it has been strictly adhering to scientifically proven methods of improving teacher education. KFU is not only the leader in this subject in Russia, but also the only university offering pedagogical courses on all levels of education – undergraduate, postgraduate, and PhD.

Speaking about teaching practice, the University, of course, also has two secondary schools (the Lobachevsky Lyceum and the IT Lyceum) and plans to open a kindergarten.

“The kindergarten will be focused on kids with autism spectrum disorders,” explained Dr. Gafurov. “This initiative is supported by President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov. It’s a complex problem, and we will be cooperating with colleagues from other institutions. We will act as a platform for this research, as specified by the Ministry of Enlightenment.”

Apart from Kazan Federal University, there are four other Russian universities in Education rankings – Saint-Petersburg Polytechnic University, Ural Federal University, Moscow State University, and Tomsk State University.

Source text: Alina Iskanderova

Photos: Mariya Abrosimova

Translation: Yury Nurmeev