State Examinations
State Examinations
in the USSR, the graduating examinations at institutions of higher learning and at specialized secondary educational institutions.
At medical, pedagogical, and agricultural institutes and technicums, as well as conservatories, institutes of culture, and institutes and technicums of physical education, graduating students, as a rule, must pass state examinations in one of the sociopolitical disciplines and in two or three basic disciplines in their special field. Those who are graduating from universities or higher educational institutions in economics or theater must defend their diploma essays as well as take state examinations in one of the sociopolitical disciplines. Instead of state examinations, the graduating students at technical colleges must defend their diploma projects, and at art institutes, their diploma works.
State examinations are conducted by state examination commissions of the higher educational institutions and by the state qualification commissions of the specialized secondary educational institutions. These commissions consist of a chairman drawn from a number of the major specialists in the given field of production or scholarship (a person who is not employed at the educational institution where the examination is being given) and the following members: at higher educational institutions, the rector or prorector, the dean of the appropriate department or his deputy, the heads of departments, professors, and docents: and at specialized secondary educational institutions, the director (or deputy director) and several instructors in the specialized disciplines.
Those students who have fulfilled all the requirements of the curriculum are admitted to the state examinations. The decision on grading the state examinations is taken at a closed session of the commission by a simple majority of votes. Certification is awarded to the graduate of the educational institution if he passes the state examinations.
V. G. PANOV