Evolution of Legal Regulation of State Accreditation of Educational Activities in Russia

IntroductionThe Russian science of administrative law has been developing the idea of improving legislation on control and supervisory activities for a long time ^[7].

The administrative reforms carried out in Russia ensured the modification of the forms of state control and supervision ^{[27, p. 28]}. One of the latest reforms of control and supervisory activities is related to the adoption in 2020 of the federal laws "On Mandatory Requirements in the Russian Federation" and "On State Control (Supervision) and Municipal Control in Of the Russian Federation".

The implementation of these laws should ensure the creation of a "coherent, transparent, economically and technologically justified system of requirements", the control of compliance with which will be an effective legal means of protecting legally protected values ^{[6, p. 104]}. Moreover, the adoption of these regulatory legal acts fully corresponds to the proposals of individual scientists on the reorientation of state control to the prevention and prevention of violations of mandatory requirements ^{[4, p. 104]}, based on effective tools (including information technology) for assessing the quality and effectiveness of controlled activities ^{[8, p. 22]}.

Taking into account these ideas, the system of state control in the field of education is being transformed. Since getting an education provides key opportunities for self-realization and talent development, that is, ensures the achievement of the corresponding national development goal, control over the quality of education should be brought to a new level. Modern control over the quality of education should not be aimed solely at punishing educational organizations, it should identify weaknesses in their activities and suggest ways to overcome them in order to achieve the best educational results.

Considering that one of the most common forms of control is the accreditation of educational activities, which many modern researchers agree with ^{[3, 9, 13, 16, 25]}, in the light of the ongoing reform, the legislator also changed its legal regulation. Additionally, in 2021, an accreditation monitoring mechanism was introduced as part of the general system for collecting and analyzing the performance indicators of an educational organization in various areas of its functioning ^{[2, p. 37]}.

In this regard, the author considers it necessary to define the modern model of accreditation as a form of control over the quality of education and compare it with previously existing models.

The relevance of the study is due to the fact that state accreditation is "given minimal attention" in the scientific literature ^[10], as well as interest from society. In particular, every year the President of the Russian Federation receives a large number of appeals on issues of quality control in the field of education and the implementation of educational standards (see Figure 1).

Figure 1 – Information on the number of appeals received by the President of the Russian Federation (with distribution by individual topics and years)

Source: compiled by the author on the basis of information from the Office of the President for Dealing with Appeals of Citizens and Organizations (URL: http://www.letters.kremlin.ru/digests/periodic/yearly )

Evolution of legal regulation of accreditation in the field of educationStage 1 – Formation of certification and accreditation as interrelated forms of control

The formation of the institute of accreditation of educational organizations is associated with the ideas of "restructuring" public administration in the late 1980s.

In particular, Resolution No. 325 of the Council of Ministers of the USSR dated March 13, 1987 ordered the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Special Education of the USSR to strengthen its control functions and state inspection of the quality of education ^[17]. At the same time, as part of the inspection, it was supposed to introduce regular "certification of higher educational institutions", during which it was necessary to "comprehensively assess the level of educational and research work, the composition of teaching staff, the state of the material base" ^[19].

At the first stages, it was the certification of educational institutions that was the basis for their accreditation, and these two tools were used in a complex. In 1990, the draft "Basic approaches to certification and accreditation of higher educational institutions" was submitted for discussion by the Board of the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Special Education of the USSR ^{[20, p. 24]}.

The relevant provisions on certification and accreditation were taken into account when developing and adopting the Law of the Russian Federation "On Education" in 1992. In the original version, the said law did not disclose the concept of accreditation, but only defined in article 33 that "the certificate of state accreditation confirms the state status of an educational institution." On the other hand, the said Law determined that the purpose and content of certification is to establish compliance with the content, level and quality of training of graduates of an educational institution with the requirements of state educational standards.

In article 28 of the Law of the Russian Federation "On Education", the establishment of the procedure for certification and state accreditation of educational institutions was attributed to the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation in the person of its federal state authorities. As part of the exercise of this authority, the State Committee of the Russian Federation for Higher Education, by Resolution No. 6 of November 30, 1994, approved a Temporary Regulation on State accreditation of institutions of secondary and higher Professional Education in the Russian Federation. The objectives of state accreditation of educational institutions were expanded by the specified regulatory legal act. In particular, the following goals were attributed to the following:

1) establishment of the state status of an educational institution;

2) management of educational institutions of secondary and higher professional education, including monitoring the effectiveness of the educational process on a new organizational and qualitative basis;

3) protection of the rights of citizens to receive education in the scope and within the time limits provided for by state educational standards.

In addition, the above-mentioned Resolution No. 6 of November 30, 1994 defined the principles of state accreditation and its content. The corresponding procedure was fully of a state nature and did not take into account the public assessment of the activities of educational organizations, as noted by S. A. Polezhaeva ^{[20, p. 24]}. The organization of the accreditation survey assumed the examination of the content and quality of organizational, methodological, informational, personnel and resource support of the educational process. At the same time, the examination of the quality of training of specialists was to be carried out during the state final attestations of graduates by state attestation commissions.

More detailed from the point of view of regulating the certification and accreditation procedure was the Regulation on the procedure for certification and state accreditation of educational institutions, approved by Order No. 27 of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation dated January 25, 1996, confirming that:

1) state accreditation of an educational institution is a procedure for recognition by the state in the person of its state educational management bodies of the status of an educational institution;

2) certification is the main form of state-public control over the educational activities of educational institutions.

Of particular importance for establishing a link between certification and accreditation was paragraph 16 of the above Order, which established that a positive conclusion of the certification commission is the basis for obtaining state accreditation by an educational institution. Thus, the procedure of state accreditation was formal and actually had secondary importance in relation to certification.

On May 22, 1998, the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation by Order No. 1327 approved a new Regulation on the procedure for certification and state accreditation of educational institutions. This Provision did not have significant changes in relation to the previously existing procedure. At the same time, it changed the requirements for the composition of the certification and accreditation commission. The inclusion of representatives of professional public organizations and associations in the commission was to ensure the implementation of the principles of competence and independence.

It should be noted that since the beginning of its operation, the Law of the Russian Federation No. 3266-I of July 10, 1992 "On Education" assumed certification by the State Attestation Service, which "for a number of reasons, primarily economic, has not been established since 1992" ^[21]. In this regard, in coordination with the Government of the Russian Federation (dated 05.01.2001 No. VM-P8-00188), certification was carried out in accordance with the procedure previously established by the Ministry of Education of Russia ^[21].

At the same time, the further development of the system of state accreditation of educational organizations was conditioned by the adoption on December 2, 1999 by the Government of the Russian Federation of Resolution No. 1323 "On approval of the Regulations on State accreditation of higher education institutions".

This provision confirmed that the purpose of the university's accreditation is to establish (confirm for the next term) its state accreditation status by type (higher education institution) and type (institute, academy, university) with the establishment of a list of educational programs for which the university has the right to issue state-issued educational documents to graduates.

At this stage, the most significant was the detailed definition of the university's indicators and accreditation criteria taken into account during the examination within the framework of accreditation (point 4). The corresponding indicators made it possible to assess the "Content and level of training", "Quality of training", "Educational activity" and other conditions of education.

Additionally, it was determined that universities are accredited for a period of no more than 5 years. The grounds for cancellation of the issued certificate of accreditation were also established, among which it was indicated "receiving a negative conclusion based on the results of certification", which additionally ensured the connection of these forms of control activities.

Having analyzed the legal regulation of state accreditation at this stage, we agree with E. I. Spector, who noted that through the accreditation of higher educational institutions, the state has created a unified system for assessing the conditions, content and results of their activities ^[23]. At the same time, the establishment of an independent status of the state certification of educational institutions in relation to their state accreditation was rather contradictory: an appropriate control body was not created, the results of the certification were taken into account for the purposes of accreditation and had no independent significance, etc.

Stage 2 – Unification of certification and accreditation proceduresThe relevant contradictions were eliminated by the adoption in 2007 of Federal Law No. 56-FZ, which amended the Law of the Russian Federation "On Education" in force at that time.

Based on the long–term practice of certification and state accreditation of educational institutions, members of the Federation Council and deputies of the State Duma initiated the unification of certification and state accreditation procedures into one procedure - state accreditation. Speaking at the consideration of the bill in the first reading, member of the Federation Council N. I. Bulaev noted: "... certification is already actually part of accreditation, and we are unnecessarily complicating this process" ^[24].

Later, the relevant ideas were reflected in the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 522 dated July 14, 2008 "On Approval of the Regulations on State Accreditation of educational institutions and scientific organizations". By combining the previously valid provisions on certification and accreditation, the Government has established that the purpose of state accreditation of an educational institution is at the same time:

1) establishment of its state status (type, type, category);

2) confirmation of the level of implemented educational programs and their orientation;

3) confirmation of compliance of the content and quality of training of graduates of educational institutions with federal state educational standards or federal state requirements.

At the same time, the decision on state accreditation of an educational institution should be based, in accordance with paragraph 11, on the results of:

1) examination of compliance of the content and quality of training of graduates of an educational institution or scientific organization with federal state educational standards or federal state requirements;

2) examination of compliance of educational programs of various levels and directions implemented by an educational institution with federal state requirements;

3) examination of the performance indicators of an educational institution necessary to determine its type or category.

This Provision thoroughly regulated the accreditation procedure, including when it was conducted for the first time. It should be noted that this Provision did not establish the procedure for the formation of the commission on state accreditation and did not define the requirements for the members of this commission (experts).

Stage 3 – Improvement of state accreditation procedures. Implementation of accreditation expertiseAt the next stage, the Government of the Russian Federation initiated the improvement of control and supervisory functions and optimization of the provision of public services in the field of education ^[22].

As a result, Federal Law No. 293-FZ of November 8, 2010 was adopted, which amended the Law of the Russian Federation "On Education", which:

1) the purpose of state accreditation has been clarified – the establishment (confirmation) of the state status of an educational institution, confirmation of the quality of education in an educational institution or scientific organization;

2) it is envisaged to conduct an accreditation examination with the involvement of accredited experts (an examination of the conformity of the content and quality of training of students and graduates; an examination of the performance indicators of an educational institution necessary to determine its type and type) ^[11];

3) there are opportunities for interaction with the accreditation body using electronic means, etc.

Taking into account these changes, it was decided to establish the specifics of accreditation of educational organizations of certain types. In this regard , they were approved separately:

1) Regulations on State Accreditation of Educational Institutions of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation and the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation;

2) Regulations on state accreditation of the Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education "Lomonosov Moscow State University and the Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education "Saint Petersburg State University";

3) Regulations on state accreditation of educational institutions and scientific organizations;

4) Regulations on state accreditation of federal state educational institutions of higher professional education implementing educational programs of higher professional and postgraduate professional education on the basis of educational standards and requirements established by them independently.

The distinctive features of this stage of the development of the accreditation system of educational organizations, in addition to the previously mentioned, were the following: 1) introduction of testing tools for students and graduates using standardized form tasks to assess the development of federal state educational standards or federal state requirements; 2) the need for an educational institution to conduct self-examination, the results of which are considered during the accreditation examination.

Special attention should be paid to the strict regulation of the composition of the commission on accreditation expertise created by the accreditation body (in terms of qualification requirements, certification of experts), the order of its work (including when testing students). Additionally, it was established that the procedure for the development of accreditation pedagogical measuring materials is established by the Federal Service for Supervision in the Field of Education and Science. These requirements ensured the implementation of the principles of legality and prohibition of arbitrariness and formalism.

An important event in the regulation of state accreditation was the adoption of Federal Law No. 273-FZ of December 29, 2012 "On Education in the Russian Federation", by which the Law of the Russian Federation of July 10, 1992 No. 3266-I "On Education" was declared invalid.

It was established that the state accreditation of educational activities, along with its licensing and state control (supervision) in the field of education, is included in the system of state regulation of educational activities.

The new law retained the requirement for state accreditation, specifying that educational activities are subject to accreditation, and not educational institutions and scientific organizations, as it was previously ^[12]. The approach was also maintained, according to which the state accreditation of educational activities is carried out based on the results of the accreditation examination. At the same time, it was clarified that the subject of the accreditation examination is to determine the conformity of the content and quality of training of students in an organization engaged in educational activities according to the federal state educational standards declared for state accreditation of educational programs. The examination of the performance indicators of an educational institution necessary to determine its type and type was excluded from the relevant procedure.

Taking into account the changes in federal legislation, the Government of the Russian Federation adopted a new Resolution No. 1039 dated November 18, 2013 "On State accreditation of educational activities", which adopted the existing experience of regulating and conducting accreditation.

The new regulation in the original version allowed for the conduct of an accreditation examination without going to an educational organization in cases when it is located outside the territory of Russia. Later in 2019, the list of such cases was expanded.

The Regulation also required defining a list of documents and materials required for conducting an accreditation examination (see, for example: Order of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation No. 1385 of November 9, 2016), which additionally ensured the implementation of the principles of legality and prohibition of arbitrariness and formalism.

During the period of validity of this Provision, it has been repeatedly amended to ensure the improvement of the accreditation procedure (accreditation examination) and the use of its results. So, in August 2019, for the first time at the level of a government decree, it was established in which case the expert group's conclusion was negative.

Stage 4 – Addition of state accreditation with accreditation monitoring toolsThe final stage of improving the system of state accreditation in the field of education is due to the ongoing reform of control and supervisory activities.

As part of this reform, Article 104 of Federal Law No. 170-FZ of June 11, 2021 "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation in Connection with the Adoption of the Federal Law "On State Control (Supervision) and Municipal Control in the Russian Federation" amended the provisions of Federal Law No. 273-FZ of December 29, 2012 "About education in the Russian Federation".

These amendments excluded the provisions on federal State quality control of education from Article 93 of the Federal Law "On Education in the Russian Federation". At the same time, article 92 changed the purpose of state accreditation – confirmation by the accreditation body of the conformity of the quality of education with the established accreditation indicators. It is also established that, as a general rule, the certificate of state accreditation is valid indefinitely. With this in mind, the implementation of accreditation indicators by organizations engaged in educational activities has become the subject of accreditation monitoring, which is systematic.

Thus, accreditation monitoring has become a new form of control activity in order to identify the facts of non-compliance with accreditation indicators.

Accreditation indicators in accordance with the Federal Law represent a set of mandatory requirements for the quality of education. Accreditation indicators are approved by the management bodies in the field under consideration. Thus, accreditation indicators for educational programs of higher education were approved by Order No. 1094 of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation dated November 25, 2021. Generalized information on the distribution of accreditation indicators (by educational programs of higher education) for the purposes of their use is presented in Table 1.

Table 1 – Distribution of accreditation indicators (by educational programs of higher education) by the purposes of their useSource: compiled by the author on the basis of Order No. 1094 of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation dated November 25, 2021

According to the results of the analysis of Table 1, a contradiction is found that accreditation monitoring should ensure control over the implementation of accreditation indicators, including the quality of education (based on the results of diagnostic work), and at the same time, the results of diagnostic work are not evaluated during its implementation. The author considers it necessary to eliminate this contradiction by including an indicator reflecting the quality of diagnostic work performed by students in the number of indicators used during accreditation monitoring.

In general, accreditation monitoring is currently being carried out in accordance with the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 662 dated August 5, 2013 "On the monitoring of the education system". The rules for monitoring were changed by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 450 dated March 24, 2022, taking into account the considered legislative innovations. In the modern view, accreditation monitoring, reflecting the systematic standardized monitoring of the implementation of accreditation indicators by organizations engaged in educational activities, is based on the assessment of: 1) federal statistical observation data; 2) surveys, including sociological surveys, of the activities of organizations engaged in educational activities; 3) information posted on the official websites of educational organizations; 4) information published in the media; 5) information received by public authorities from organizations and citizens.

The results of accreditation monitoring conducted at least once every 3 years can be used for informational support of the development and implementation of the state policy of the Russian Federation in the field of education, continuous system analysis and assessment of the state and prospects of education development.

The relevant innovations, according to the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, are aimed at: 1) exclusion of redundant and duplicate requirements; 2) assessment, first of all, of the quality of training of students and schoolchildren ^[5].

It should be noted that the use of accreditation monitoring tools, including sending recommendations to organizations to improve the quality of education, can make up for the problem noted by M. N. Kudilinsky ^[9]. He pointed out that in the previous model, the state control focused not on correcting the activities of an educational organization, but on suppressing educational activities that do not meet state educational standards. A similar problem was also identified by T. F. Yaschuk ^[28].

ConclusionThe Institute of State accreditation of Educational Programs is currently a form of control in the relevant field, which allows timely detection of violations of the established mandatory requirements – accreditation indicators, and is aimed at increasing the availability of quality education ^[18].

Taking into account the development of the institute of accreditation, the author considers it impossible to agree with A. A. Kirillov that "state accreditation as an element of the system of state regulation will lose its effect" ^{[8, p. 22]}. On the contrary, due to the expansion of the appropriate control system, taking into account the emergence of accreditation monitoring, state accreditation acquires additional factors of its development, taking into account the modern concept of control and supervisory activities.

Today, the availability of state accreditation is a confirmation of the "level and quality of the implementation of educational programs" and enables organizations to "participate in an open public competition for the distribution of admission control figures", etc. ^[1]. Therefore, the importance of monitoring the implementation of accreditation indicators should not be underestimated. Accreditation expertise and accreditation monitoring ensure the systematic nature of the relevant control activities, which contributes to the "timely elimination of identified deficiencies" ^{[26, p. 156]}. From a positive point of view, it should also be noted that the result of accreditation monitoring is, first of all, the preparation of recommendations for the elimination of identified violations. Such a recommendatory nature corresponds to the idea of the autonomy of higher educational institutions in determining their educational policy ^{[15, 23]}.

The research conducted by the author allows us to formulate the following conclusions and recommendations:

1) the modern model of quality control of education is based on the assessment of the implementation of accreditation indicators and is the result of the evolution of quality control of higher education in Russia, while at the current stage it is determined by the ongoing administrative reform;

2) the development of legal regulation of accreditation in the field of education includes, according to the author, the following 4 stages: stage 1 "Formation of certification and accreditation as interrelated forms of control" (1987-2007); stage 2 "Unification of certification and accreditation procedures" (2007-2010); stage 3 "Improvement of state accreditation procedures. Implementation of accreditation expertise" (2010-2021); Stage 4 "Addition of state accreditation with accreditation monitoring tools" (2021 – present);

3) the author revealed a contradiction in the fact that accreditation monitoring should ensure control over the implementation of accreditation indicators, including the quality of education (based on the results of diagnostic work), and at the same time, the results of diagnostic work are not evaluated during its implementation. The author considers it necessary to eliminate this contradiction.

This topic remains relevant for further development, since questions remain about the methodology of accreditation monitoring, including the use of official statistics and sociological sources within it ^[14]. Additional attention is required by the procedure for conducting diagnostic work and its possible combination with the state final certification, which took place at previous stages. Therefore, the presented research can become the basis for future research.