The educational programme of the Yabloko association was published a year ago in November 1999. The present programme of educational reform proposed by the government coincides with the former programme in many areas.

Yabloko has supported and supports today (in the government draft) the introduction of the following:

• a single national educational standard which would determine a compulsory minimum in terms of content, the conditions for obtaining a general education, the norms of the educational burden and the educational requirements for school leavers. In addition, Yabloko believes that there is a need to establish legally the term of complete secondary education (currently 11 years);
• one single national exam (instead of the present final exams at schools and entrance exams to universities). This should provide real continuity between secondary school and university and facilitate access to higher education for citizens;
• a budget financing norm which serves as the basis for calculations of expenditures on secondary education. This will put an end to the principle of financing schools with whatever is leftover;
• a strict regime of budget financing for schools. This will ensure that the funds for general education obtained by the territories (that do have sufficient funds of their own) from higher level budgets are properly spent;
• a new wage system which will make it possible to increase significantly the wages of teachers and other employees in the education sector.

In accordance with these provisions, Yabloko developed and submitted to the State Duma a draft law “On Guaranteeing the Constitutional Rights of Citizens to a General Education”, which was discussed at parliamentary hearings in September and is now being finalised, with due account of the discussion. The draft law establishes legal mechanisms for implementing a number of progressive ideas from the government's reform programme.

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The economy and society of the 21st century is developed by schools and universities

“The prospects of court investigations of inquiries filed by a number of

Federation Council members to the Constitutional Court are slight,” said the First Deputy Head of the Yabloko faction in the State Duma, Sergei Ivanenko, in an interview with journalists on November 13, 2000, regarding requests by some governors that the laws - initiated by the President and aimed at consolidating the hierarchy of power, that were adopted by the Duma in summer 2000 - be investigated for their compliance with the Constitution of the RF.

He also stressed that the “Constitution interprets the issue of relations between the centre and the regions in such a way that there may be different solutions to these problems and the legislators, in other words the State Duma virtually gain complete control over them.”

“We have virtually switched from a concentration of power in the hands of unruly governors and the formation of their own principalities to a system marked by a sharp consolidation of presidential power and the political weakening of the elected governors,” added Ivanenko.

According to Ivanenko, “the solution of the problem should be complex”. He noted: “The Federation Council should be formed by direct public elections. In this case it is possible and viable to strengthen the mechanism for dismissing governors, if they breach federal law.”

“The problem cannot simply be resolved by applying the principle “new problems always crop up", added Ivanenko.

Different drafts of the Labour Code prepared by Yabloko, the government, “Fatherland-All Russia” and CPRF

The main goal of the Labour Code drafted by the Yabloko faction is to create a mechanism for regulating labour relationships.

The draft describes in detail the subjects of labour relations in Russia

today, forms a system for realising their rights, mechanisms for settling labour disputes both in court and prior to court proceedings

The draft consists of a general section, which equals in volume the whole of the current Labour Code, together with a special section. At parliamentary hearings, Yabloko’s draft will be presented by the head of the team responsible for this draft, the deputy of the State Duma of the First and the Second Convocations, member of the Bureau of the Central Council of the Yabloko Association Anatoli Golov.

He believes that the other Labour Code drafts have major drawbacks. For example, the governmental draft virtually presents a “refurbished” version of the current Labour Code, whereas the system of labour relations remains ,according to Golov, a “ socialist hostel with numerous corridors”. At the same time Golov expressed his concern over an increase in the working day to 12 hours, and measures that could compel the labour force to become more mobile.

The draft submitted to the Duma by the deputy of the State Duma of the Second Convocation from the CPRF faction Teimuraz Avaliani is simply a “wish list” and does not include any mechanisms for regulating labour relations. Golov believes that the drawbacks in such declarations are most evident, for example, with respect to implementation of the article of the Criminal Code on initiating criminal proceedings for non-payment of wages. Currently, millions of people are not being paid their wages on time; however, not a single criminal case has been launched against such employers.

While praising the draft submitted by the CPRF-“Fatherland-All Russia”- “People’s Deputy” faction (that included provisions developed by a deputy from the Yabloko faction Tatyana Yarigina as early as 1995) Golov pointed out to the Duma that this draft attempts to protect first and foremost the rights of the trade unions, rather than the rights of the workers.