Imagine that you are a hard of hearing 19-year old Russian student who is considering entering a University. There are a number of issues to consider. As with entering a university in the U. S., you've got several things to consider, but specifically, which university to choose, the exam conditions for the disabled and benefits (if possible in your case), the cost, communication access, and employment after graduation.
Choice and Cost
In Russia there are many professional colleges for disabled where deaf and hard of hearing study as well. And some colleges are specialized only for the deaf. In St.Petersburg, there are a number of universities to choose from that regularly accept students with hearing loss, including the University and Culture, Academy of Arts, Muchina's Art-Industrial Academy, State Herzen's Pedagogic University, North-West Institute of Print of the St.Petersburg State University of Technology and Design, NorthWest Polytechnical-Engineer Institute, Raoul Vallenberg's Institute of Family and Child.
In Moscow, such universities also provide education for hard of hearing and deaf, as Moscow Pedagogical State University, State Specialised Institute of Arts. Other regions of Russia have about a dozen of colleges or institutes with specialized departments or groups where deaf and hard of hearing can study, and that gives them at least a good opportunity.
As with U. S. universities, each school is noted for particular types of education, and costs vary based on a number of factors. Many universities still provide education for free, but for a variety of reasons, parents often prefer to pay for studies to ensure that their hard of hearing child gets access to education, and on a less competitive basis. (Even this has become harder now because there is a huge competition for paid education placements)
The Russian government provides financial assistance for all students, with an additional stipend for students with disabilities based on the "severity" of their disability. Your stipend will be 400-600 roubles (about $14 to $20 U. S. dollars) per month. Additional assistance is available if your income is below the minimum cost of living (Currently at about $70 US Dollars); however, hearing loss is considered a comparatively minor disability by the government. So, if that's the only disability you have, you will not receive an additional stipend. While people with hearing loss are considered "disabled" by the government, they have the same entrance exam requirements as "non-disabled" people; however, they don't receive the additional stipend provided to many others who have a disability considered more severe by the government.
The bottom line is that you or your parents will have to shell out for higher education (and for the beer you'll need to relieve any stresses from your studies!).
Like many students, cost or convenience may cause you to choose to "night school" or correspondence courses for your studies. Both address the cost issue because they enable you to combine a job with your study. (By the way, you'll have to accept that it is a common practice in Russia and the former USSR to attain your job only through your family or friends' connections. There's little chance you'll get a decent job without support of your family or your kind professors or internship boss)
Communications Access
If you choose a mainstream university, you'll be shocked that there is no captioning and no sign language interpretation available for deaf/HOH students. This assistance is available from the university only when the total number of HOH/deaf is at least 12. If you want such accessibility but there aren't enough students in your class who need it, you'll need to pool your own money with other HOH/deaf students and arrange for it yourself. You'll also have to contend with hearing students who may try to block your use of the interpreter because they find it "distracting."
You rightly criticize the lack of accommodations, but your well-known Russian patience helps you again to endure. So how do you get the material without captions or an interpreter?
"To study well, I would ask my desk neighbour to copy her notes or to borrow her lecture notes after the class and copy from them at home," recollects Katya Frolova, now a 3rd-year student at the North-West Institute of Print of the St.Petersburg State University of Technology and Design.
"I was studying together with three other hard of hearing girls. During my first and second year, one of the girls' mothers went with us to lectures and put down everything the lecturer said. We then copied all of these notes. But hearing students put down notes in their own way, with only a few points and not all of the information, so for us hard of hearing students, copying would not always help. Yes, the biggest problem for us is to get everything the lecturer says."
"I used to dream of a device which would be accessible for deaf students that would record everything a professor said. His speech then could be visible on a screen, or understood via an FM or induction loop, like they have at the Moscow State Technical University named after Bauman."
Ekaterina Granova, a student at the mainstream St.Petersburg State University of Engineering and Economics, has a different experience.
"I'm getting my degree through zaochnoe (correspondence), so I feel almost no influence of the university on myself or any interpersonal or communications challenges. The present job I have, was given to me by my relative, and I decided to work there so that I could have 'pocket money'. During my days off, I study at home," said Granova.
From my own experience I remember running around after lectures - especially before exams - asking my classmates to lend me their notes for a couple days. After this, I rushed to the copy service and copied dozens and hundreds of pages (at my own cost, of course).
The best communications access is available at Moscow State Technical University n.a.Bauman. Students can learn informatics and engineer graphics in computer classes designed for 12 students. Lecture halls are equipped with the state-of-art computerized boards that have movable mirrors which allow students to follow the lecture via captions. Soon, classes will be equipped with mobile video cameras so that the students can follow the lecture on a big screen.
About 154 students study in the University today, benefitting from such technology, and each year the university accepts 36 new entrants.
Employment after Graduation
As the university administration says, "hard of hearing graduates not only do get good jobs but also a raised social and professional status which allows them to feel included in the society".
U. S. experts agree, and they calculated that hard of hearing University graduates who find prestigious jobs after completing higher education, return to the state four times as much money than it was spent on their learning.
Back to Reality
Now, take off your hat of a Russian hard of hearing student. You are back to reality..
...Have you heard a quote "Do not let schooling interfere with your education"?
Where do you think education starts? Kindergarten? Primary school? University? Well, Yes and No. Education starts with your family. It is mainly - if not exclusively - owing to a family that their kid will get access to good teachers and good diagnostics, develop his/her speech or other ability to communicate, access communication with both deaf and hearing peers, develop self-awareness, social skills and potential for personal and, consequently, professional growth. School cannot always provide this. Parents' love and perseverance can make miracles happen in situations where quality early education is not readily available. This concerns all countries in the world where government does not provide well enough for good access to education, health and welfare.
While accessibility may not be fully adjusted to the needs of hard of hearing and deaf, and although consultancy system at schools and universities may not been entirely developed, Russian schools offer many high quality ideas and valuable educational approaches to learn, even compared to the Western well-developed countries! Russia, in return, shall learn good practices from the Western Europe and the United States, in order to raise accessibility of quality education for people with hearing loss.
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