Improvement of the quality of education — demand of the time

The article covers the current situation in the educational system of Russian Federation as well as the directions for its modernization. It contains detailed analysis of the basic qualitative characteristics of education in Russian Federation as a whole and also in Chuvash Republic in particular. The article is based on the data collected in All-Russian population census of 2002 and also on the data taken from the State Statistic Committee of Russia. A number of recommendations for the improvement of the quality of education are presented.