Parameters for forecasting the availability of general education to achieve the strategic goals of the education system development

Introduction. The article presents a study on the problem of achieving forecast values of general education accessibility in terms of observing children’s rights to receive general education in state or municipal general education settings assigned to the territory at the place of residence of children. The purpose of the article is to identify the parameters for forecasting the general education accessibility to achieve the strategic goals of education system development. Materials and Methods. The study is conducted on the basis of a scientific approach, which is based on the existing experience of education researchers in investigating the concepts of ‘education accessibility’, types of accessibility of general education, in the analysis of the specifics of a number of factors that clarify the essence of the concept. The study uses an empirical method of collecting data on the parameters of forecasting the legal, social and geographical accessibility of education in order to comply with the rights of children to receive general education in state or municipal general education settings assigned to the territory at the place of residence of children, including when they move to the next level of general education. The article uses a methods inventory that includes a set of parameters for forecasting the accessibility of general education for disabled children and children with special education needs, parameters for forecasting the choice of the mode of study. Results. The results consist in identifying the parameters for predicting the general education availability. The authors summarized the concepts included in the thesaurus of ‘education accessibility’ as the opportunity of free access for representatives of various social groups to educational settings, the children’s right to receive quality education in accordance with educational needs and personal resources. The authors identified the parameters of general education availability for three subjects of the Russian Federation (the Republic of Dagestan, the Chechen Republic, and the Saratov Region), compared the data obtained with the predicted values to achieve the strategic goals of the education system development. Based on the results obtained for a number of parameters of general education availability, an incomplete implementation of the observance of children’s rights to receive general education is determined. Preventive measures to improve general education availability are proposed. Conclusions. The conclusion is made about regional differentiation of the private sector within general education, about incomplete implementation of rights of disabled children and children with special education needs in the regions under study, about heterogeneous situation with accessibility at different levels of general education. The insignificance of using alternative modes of obtaining the first and second levels of general education (family education) is noted, as well as improper implementation of students’ right to study ‘the universal programme’.