Abstract:
In the article, the situation in the Republic of Crimea in the context of the education market as a component of the mechanism of acquiring knowledge, along with self-education, education at the workplace, receiving an education in the family and among like-minded people, is analyzed. The aim of the article is to investigate the condition of the market of educational services and the identification of the main trends of its development. The following tasks were set in accordance with the purpose: to develop the theoretical approaches to the definitions of «educational services» and «educational services market»; to explore the current state of the market of educational services; to identify the positive and the negative trends and to develop proposals to improve the situation in the market of educational services. Using the method of logical generalization the definition of «educational services» and «educational services market» are clarified. The specific features of educational services are identified. They are focusing on the specific needs of employers and the labor market; the economic returns from educational services, which are manifested in the labor activity or in the future lifelong learning; the presence of feedback between consumers and producers of educational services. As part of the investigation, the market of educational services is regarded as a system of socio-economic relations between the sellers of educational services and their consumers, in order to obtain theoretical and practical knowledge and skills for their further realization in the form of labor activity, or other spheres of vital activity. Using the economic-statistical method and the method of generalized statistics, the analysis of the educational environment and the region’s education system in the context of integration in the educational space of Russia is held. The positive and the negative trends that were formed on the market of educational services are highlighted, by using analysis and synthesis that are based on the quantitative characteristics of the general education system, additional education, secondary vocational and higher education. Among the positive trends the most obvious are: the increase of public funding for education; the gain of government control and regulation on the education market; the optimization of educational institutions on quantitative and qualitative criteria to achieve more effective functioning; the intercalation of the principles of lifelong learning, which allows the consumer of educational services to learn throughout life, and allows scientific and educational personnel improve their qualifications on a regular basis. Using the system-structural analysis, the proposals for improving the existing situation on the market of educational services in the region are developed.
