Checking Geographical Literacy

Astrakhan State University has become one of sites to host the All-Russian Geographical Dictation whose theme was “My Country – Russia”.

It was Vladimir Putin, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Russian Geographical Society, who has initiated this Dictation. The public has fully supported this event, which has taken place on Nov. 01, 2015 in various regions of our country. Anyone could take part in it, regardless of age, education, social status, etc.

The Dictation aimed to obtain objective information about the level of Russian people’s geographical literacy, to attract media and public attention to our people’s geographical literacy, to encourage Russia’s population to learn the geography of their home country, and to develop recommendations to enhance geographical education in Russia.

To check their knowledge of Geography, over 500 people have come to Astrakhan State University; each of them was given a unique ID number, which will help them find out their scores after December 10 on the web site of the Russian Geographical Society.

The dictation shall make it possible to evaluate the level of geographical knowledge of all the categories of Russian citizens. According to the Russian Geographical Society, the necessary amendments shall be introduced into educational programs in Geography upon assessment of outcomes of this Dictation.

Our University looks forward to hosting this event next year.

Russian original information and photo source: M.S. Bezuglova (the Department of Geology & Geography of ASU)