Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- In 2022, Russian universities admitted more than 21,000 foreigners. Indicators related to applicants from abroad are growing from year to year: since 2019, the number of foreigners studying at Russian universities has increased by 26,000 people, and the quota for these students has been increased by 5,000 places over the past year. Along with the numbers, the need of foreign residents for quality Russian language courses is also growing.

In the new academic year, Irkutsk National Research Technical University (IRNITU) for the first time launches massive open online Russian language courses for foreign applicants and students. This was reported by the press service of the university.

The project will help citizens of other countries learn Russian and adapt to Russia. The geography of the project covers Uzbekistan and 12 other states: China, Egypt, Syria, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Mongolia, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Benin, Yemen, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire.

The project was created within the framework of the state program “Development of Education” with grant support from the Ministry of Education and involves the implementation of the program “Creation of online Russian language courses within the Center for Open Education “Middle of the Earth” of the Baikal BRICS Institute”.

The program of online courses is aimed at ensuring that its students acquire basic communication skills of the "threshold of survival", primarily in the context of the regional characteristics of the Baikal region, overcome the barrier of simultaneously mastering the Russian language as a foreign language and a complex technical specialty, and get acquainted with the specifics of studying at an engineering and technical university. The educational program of the courses involves acquaintance with the natural and cultural heritage of Lake Baikal and the Irkutsk region, the academic environment and the educational infrastructure of the region. For most applicants from other countries, the Baikal region is little known in terms of career prospects, so the authors of the course paid special attention to the story about job opportunities in the region.

The university team has done a comprehensive job: created an open educational and educational digital platform "Middle of the Earth", developed 20 open online courses for it, planned educational and educational events for foreigners. It will be possible to take online courses until December, 150 citizens of other countries are expected to participate.

“With the help of the project, we hope to “lure” foreign applicants to IRNITU, which has territorial and sectoral leadership in the field of higher engineering education, most of which are still focused on entering universities in western and central Russia. We hope that online courses will help them master the Russian language and get acquainted with the peculiarities of technical specialties, easily overcome the language barrier for successful interaction in the Russian-speaking academic and professional environment,” - Svetlana Latysheva, Director of the BRICS BI Department of Humanities.

The project is being implemented in partnership with departments of the Russian Cultural Center of Uzbekistan, the Mongolian Association of Teachers of the Russian Language and Literature, educational organizations in Tajikistan, Egypt, Cameroon and other countries. The project will help strengthen the ties of the Irkutsk Technical University with Chinese partners who are ready to invite university students to study free of charge or at a discount.