Education without Borders

Irkutsk State Transport University provides training for Russian-speaking high school graduates in Mongolia. Classes are held in an online format. The goal is to prepare young people for entering higher educational institutions of Russia. There are about 200 Mongolian participants in the project.

The decision to start the training was taken in November last year, following a visit to Mongolia by a delegation of the Council of Rectors of the Irkutsk region, at the invitation of the Ministry of Education and Science.

As Maxim Bogatov, the head of the international cooperation department of Irkutsk State Transport University, told "1520international", one of the main issues of the meeting was the popularization of the Russian language in the educational process against the background of English, Chinese, Korean and Japanese, as well as the expansion of Russian education in Mongolia.

To fulfill the task, at the end of 2021 Irkutsk University held remote classes in the Russian language for preparatory department students in Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia).

From March to May of this year, training was organized for graduate students from nine Russian-speaking high schools in the country, which cooperate with Ulaanbaatar Railway (see note). About 30 classes on the Russian language and professional orientation were held during the two months. 

"The total number of participants from the Mongolian side was about 200 people," Maxim Bogatov reported.

Classes in the Russian language are held weekly in an online format with the participation of leading experts from Irkutsk University. In addition, students are told about extracurricular life at the university including various creative and sports clubs.
It is worth noting that Irkutsk State Transport University is one of the few Russian universities which have a branch in Mongolia.

According to Maxim Bogatov, in addition to training schoolchildren, other educational programs are also organized on the basis of this branch. They include training under additional programs for employees of Ulaanbaatar Railway and the Unified Train Traffic Regulation Center, as well as classes for senior managers of Ulaanbaatar Railway under the "Corporate Leader" and "The Basis of Managerial Effectiveness" programs. Since the branch opened in 2009, it has provided training to 372 people.

In 2020, Irkutsk State Transport University supported by Russian Railways organized a Distance Education Center in Ulaanbaatar equipped with state-of-the-art information technologies. The decision was made due to the need to switch to online learning because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As Ukhnaa Myagmarsүran, director of the railway institute of Ulaanbaatar Railway, told "1520international", in June 2019 an agreement on joint educational programs was signed between the mainline and Irkutsk State Transport University. Accordingly, since September 2019, a "2+3" program has been under way in four railway sectors - "Operation of railways", "Rolling stock of railways", "Train traffic support systems", and "Construction of railways, bridges and transport tunnels". 

"Under the agreement, Mongolian students are trained during the first two years at the railway institute of Ulaanbaatar Railway, and the next three years - at Irkutsk University. As a result of five years of studies, they receive a bachelor's degree from our institute and a specialist's diploma from Irkutsk University," adds Ukhnaa Myagmarsүran.

Today more than 250 foreign citizens are studying at Irkutsk State Transport University, 136 of them are from Mongolia. Mongolian students undergo on-the-job training at Ulaanbaatar Railway under the existing agreement with the mainline.

Since 1986, a total of 431 Mongolian nationals have graduated from the University, including Mongolia’s Minister of Development of Roads and Transport Luvsan Haltar and Ulaanbaatar Railway’s Deputy Head for Social Issues Tsedenbal Khurelbaatar.

Anna Yakusheva

Note by 1520international:
Ulaanbaatar Railway was created in 1949 as a joint venture based on an agreement between the Governments of the USSR and the Mongolian People’s Republic with equal shares in the charter capital (50% by 50%). Until July 2004, the powers of the shareholder on behalf of the Russian Federation had been exercised by Russia’s Ministry of Transportation and subsequently by the Federal Railway Transport Agency. In December 2009 Russian Railways assumed the trustee rights for the Russian package of shares. 

11 may 2022