With acceptance of federal program to develop Sochi as a year-round resort, the city is bracing for rapid development. It means we’ll need a lot of well educated working people really soon. According to sochi-news.ru there are 4296 children who will complete the “main” school course and 3309 will graduate from high school this year in Sochi. And they all need to decide where they want to go next.

“Make your choice” education exhibition and conference, which took place in “Zhemchuzhina” hotel this year, is designed to help them do just that. Many higher and professional education schools gathered here to tell this year graduates what they have to offer. They bring their teachers, and the students who demonstrate their skills acquired in their school.

Sochi-news.ru has following information on education schools in Sochi: there are 19 000 students learning 43 professions in 16 higher ed schools and branch of schools; 5 000 students are learning 39 professions in 14 professional schools.

I just want to add that in Sochi there is really only one big university – Sochi State University for Tourism and Recreation.

The high-school course in Russia is 11 years, and the “main” course (also called “complete middle school education”) is 9 years. After 9 years “main” course the students can decide to continue with the high school, and complete all 11 years – this will give them the opportunity to apply to a university, an institute, or an academy (all five or more years of higher ed), OR they can continue their education in one of the “specialized professional school” which is usually additional four years of ed. directly related to getting a profession (for example in construction, food industry, or in music) and experience in it. The first choice of higher education will often give a higher paid job, with better possibilities of professional growth. The second choice gets people a job quicker, since they can have a profession and some experience by the time they are 19-20 years old, however these jobs often pay less. Kids who choose the professional ed after 9 years of school can still complete the high-school course by attending “evening school” which are high schools operating during evening hours.