ТЕКСТ Б Mining and Geological Higher Education in Russia

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In Russia young people get mining education at special institutes which train geologists and mining engineers for coal and ore min­ing. The total number of students of an institute includes full-time students, part-time students and postgraduate students.

Russian higher educational establishments offer different spe­cializations for the students. Thus, at the geological institutes, the students specialize in geology, the science which deals with differ­ent problems connected with the Earth, its history, the study of rocks, their physical and chemical properties. One of the mai.i tasks of geology is to prospect, discover and study the deposits of useful minerals.

Geology is both a theoretical and an applied science. Mining ge­ology is of great importance to the mining engineer. As a rule, min­ing geology includes economic geology.

The outstanding Russian geologist V.A. Obruchev says that geol­ogy is the science of the Earth which reveals to us how the Earth took shape, its composition and its changes. Geology helps prospect for ores, coal, oil, salt and other useful minerals.

Higher mining schools (universities, academies, institutes and colleges) develop a wide range of courses and programmes that meet the requirements of the society.They offer courses in mining tech­nology, machinery and transport, hydraulic engineering, electrical engineering, industrial electronics, automation, surveying, geodesy, information technology, etc.

The main trend in the development of higher mining education
is the introduction of courses in environmental protection, manage­
ment (environmental human resources), economics and manage­
ment of mining enterprises, marketing¹ studies, computer-aided
design (CAD)² and others. ',.

Computer science is also of great importance. The course aims at providing students with understanding how software and hardware technology helps solving problems.

Laboratory work is an important part in training specialists. Ex­periments in laboratories and workshops will help students to de­velop their practical skills. They have a short period of field work to gain working experience.

The students go through practical training at mines, plants and other industrial enterprises.. They become familiar with all stages of production and every job from worker to engineer. Here they get practical knowledge and experience necessary for their diploma.(graduation) papers.

A lot of students belong to students' scientific groups. They take part in the research projects which their departments usually con­duct. Postgraduates carry out research in different fields of science and engineering.

Sport centres give the students opportunities to play different sports such as tennis, football, basketball, volleyball, swimming, ' skiing, water polo, boxing, wrestling and others. (

Students graduate from mining and geological higher schools as mining engineers, mining mechanical engineers, ecologists, mining electrical engineers, geologists, economists and managers for mining industry.

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