Russia: new training standards to prepare orphans for adult life
Ministry of Education to bring in training standards to prepare orphans for adult life
Since 2021, the ministry has been developing standards designed to prepare young adults across Russia for the moment when they leave their orphanages.
27.04.2023
This year, the Ministry of Education is to bring in training standards to help orphans to live independently. The initiative has been under development since 2021. It will enable a single consolidated set of standards to be rolled out across the whole country so that those about to leave their orphanages are prepared to do so. The newspaper Parlamentskaya Gazeta reported that Yulia Kostyryachenko had discussed the issue on 27 April at a roundtable event of the Federation Council’s social policy committee. Ms. Kostyryachenko is the deputy director of the national policy department for the protection of the rights of the child.
The ministry analysed 107 case studies about the life circumstances of children from orphanages across 72 regions in Russia. It has developed a method for assessing the readiness of those about to leave orphanages and start living independently. Experts have also developed a life skills toolkit for orphanage leavers that can be tailored to their individual psychological make-up.
“We already have methods in place to assess the readiness of those leaving their orphanages to live independently, and how successful they are at doing so in reality. A life skills toolkit has also been developed for orphanage leavers that can be adapted to their individual social and psychological needs. In addition, we have a system for evaluating the subjective wellbeing of orphanage leavers,” said Ms. Kostyryachenko.
Every year in Russia, around 48,000 orphans leave orphanages, or their foster or adoptive families.
