The Unified State Exam (USE) and the Quality of Secondary School Education: the Consequences of the Pandemic

Abstract

The surveys conducted by the RANEPA’s Center for Lifelong Learning Economics have shown that parents and secondary school teachers alike believe that the pandemic has not significantly affected the school system’s performance in preparing students for their final exams. Nevertheless, children from low-income families and those living in rural areas were found to be the most vulnerable to the effects of containment measures and the switchover to online learning. This circumstance may contribute to the increasing inequality in educational opportunities for young people, including in the field of secondary vocational education.