The education sphere of post-soviet russia in the mirror of the labour market requirements and the needs of the population

Within the theoretical framework of social and individual needs satisfied in the sphere of education, the paper traces the main stages of educational reforms in the post-Soviet Russia, analyzes the consequences of the reforms for social development and for the labor market. It is shown that during the period of socio-economic transformations and adaptation to market realities, underestimation of specific features of educational process undermined its key functions and led to the formation of degradation mechanisms. The underlying factors exacerbating professional-educational mismatch and weakening mechanisms of social equalization are revealed. Taking into account the specifics of the sphere of education, alternative approaches to its financing are discussed.