The problem of maintaining student population in contemporary higher education

The article deals with the problem of maintaining student population of Physics and Mathematics teacher training degree programmes. The purpose of the article is to analyse the mentioned problem from the perspective of interaction between teachers and students during the transition to a new model of education. The traditional system of education is no longer the main institution of learning and education. Consequently, there is a situation, when students and some members of university academic staff are members of different socio-cultural dimensions. The introduction of new Federal State Educational Standards (FSES) has influenced the existing models of education in Russia. There has been a shift from the imitation model to the conveyor model of learning. The meaning of the new model is that it is oriented to mass education. Therefore, contemporary teachers are not considered to be role models as they used to. First-year-students perceive the university environment as an important source of knowledge, but not the only, and they are ready to accept the learning model, when the teacher is not a role model but one of the links of the conveyor model of learning. However, some peculiarities of teachers' mentality prevent them from accepting the new model. The article, based on the analysis of the specific examples, shows the increasing contradictions, which lead to high rate of students drop-outs within the new model of learning.