One of the fundamental principles of educational process at the Far East Branch of All Russian Foreign trade academy is high quality of education and training. The academy provides a range of educational programs for professional retraining, meeting modern demands of labor market and providing obtaining new knowledge and skills in the field of economics and jurisprudence, management, non-commercial activities, required for engaging in new professional activity.

Training on additional educational programs since 1996 was implemented on the basis of the faculty of continual education and professional retraining. Since 2018 the faculty has been transformed into the Additional Educational Programs and Distant Technologies Center, which includes the following fields of activities and is guided by the relevant regulations:

• Professional retraining and continual education of specialists;
• Admission to training of students of all forms of study;
• Preparatory courses for entering the academy;
• Additional education of children and adults (various courses on economics, business planning, foreign languages, law, business etiquette, office work, tourism, information technologies etc.)

The Center can provide educational activity on the following educational programs under the license for educational activity and the approved syllabuses:

 Professional retraining (not less than 250 hours):

 – Topical problems of organizing judicial activity in courts of the Russian Federation;

 Continual education (16-72 hours):

- English for guides of tourist group;

- Tourist guide;

- Raising efficiency of social non-commercial organizations;

- Legal support of activities of civil servants of Federal Service for State Registration, Cadaster and Cartography;

- Tourist guide - instructor;

- Application of modern educational technologies in teaching Bachelor’s and master’s programs;

- Sociology of deviant behavior;

• Organizing research on Master’s programs of law profile;
• Anti-corruption.

The curriculums are designed in accordance with the requirements of the Federal State Educational Standard of Higher education for training specialists of the relevant profile, including required competences.  

The curriculums envisage: time volume ratio for auditory lessons and independent work of students, the number of exams and credits.

Every discipline includes current knowledge control after lectures, seminars and practice, as well as final control in the form of a credit or exam. Training on the professional retraining programs is concluded with the state final attestation, providing defense of the final certification work.  The learning process includes interactive teaching methods: role-plays, round tables, case studies, new educational technologies with technical teaching aids.

Each educational program of additional professional training is provided with the curriculums and syllabuses, designed on the basis of initial educational and professional level of a specialist. The syllabuses reflect the objects of the education, category of students, length of study, form of study, lessons regime, range of disciplines and number of lessons on each part of the discipline, forms of lessons, forms of control and final attestation.

The working curriculums have the following structure:

1. Goals and aims of the discipline and its position in a studying process.

This part explains the goals and tasks, which are determined by the requirements to knowledge and skills, which the students should possess. The most important parts of the discipline are given special attention. 

2. The competences formed.
3. Distribution of training hours.

The distribution is done in accordance with the syllabus.

4. Content of the discipline.

The content of the curriculum corresponds to the modern level of science, culture and production development and reflects the prospects of the development. The content is structured into the topics covering logically complete material; and the topics are given definite number of training hours. Each topic contains a number of questions to be covered in lectures and to be studied independently. Out –of –class independent work includes the following activities:

• making notes on primary sources and other literature;
• working on educational material;
• writing essays and abstracts on the topic;
• preparing for credits and exams.

This part includes the number of practical lessons (seminars), their types, content and volume of time.  The program of practical lessons includes:

• Part and topic of the course;
• Number and content of the lesson;
• Control methods used;
• Duration of the lesson in auditory hours.

5. The list of questions for the credit (exam) on the discipline.
6. Educational materials on the discipline.
7. Logistics of the learning process.

The list of the primary literature includes new editions of the textbooks and tutorials available in the library of the academy or electronic library.

The content of curriculums reflects regulations and standards on organizing additional professional training. They are created by the lecturers of the academy and approved by the appropriate departments.

The topics of the certification works are developed by the appropriate graduating department in advance and approved by the department heads. Students may have the right to choose the topic and even to offer his (her) one if he (she) can justify the expediency of its development. The topicality of the theme and the regional relevance are given special consideration. The topic of the certification works are developed and discussed annually. All certification works should be defended.

The curriculums and syllabuses are regularly innovated, including the volume of time, topics, supplements, new information, literature, forms of control etc.

Professional retraining and continual study of specialists can be done in both on the job and off the job mode.  Its time and forms are determined by requirements of the customer on the basis of the contract made.  

Studying process is carried out during the whole calendar year in accordance with the formation of the groups and the order of the customer, including individual learning. The study is regulated by the timetable, made for each program and approved by the director of the Branch. The timetable is made on the basis of the appropriate syllabuses and is determined by:

• The number of training hours for the discipline;
• Weekly distribution of training hours.

The state attestation of the graduates of the professional retraining programs is carried out by the state examination board approved by the rector of the Russian Foreign Trade academy. It is headed by the chairman, who organizes and controls its activity, ensures uniform standards of knowledge of the students at the exam. The members of the examination board can be representatives of the local authorities, territorial Employment Service, the Branch faculty, specialists of the companies and organizations- representatives of the customers of this profile, leading professors and researchers of other educational establishments.

The staff working for professional retraining programs includes 19 lecturers, 14 of those having scientific degree (73.7%). 12 of them are of the Branch staff (68.4%), 6 of them are part-time staff (31.6) 1 is hourly-paid (5.3%). The lecturers include the Branch professors, practicing lecturers, and employees of the Federal Antimonopoly service, prosecutor’s office and courts. 

The Center works in cooperation with the Employment center of Kamchatka region, as well as with employment centers of the other Kamchatka cities. All employment centers are interested in such cooperation.

The Center provides all necessary conditions for study: printed materials and files, information boards. The individual approach to every learner helps to better meet the requirements of customers in obtaining necessary skills for his (her) professional activity. 

At the end of refresher course, the learners get the advanced training certificates (Foreign Trade academy, Moscow).  At the end of professional retraining program – Certificate of Professional Retraining. (Foreign Trade academy, Moscow). 

Employers and directors of the companies where employees graduated from our additional training courses sent a number of thankful letters to the Branch of the academy, where they mentioned high quality of the study .

• The organizations which employees received additional professional training include:
• Kamchatka regional court
• Kamchatka Customs
• Kamchatka regional court department
• Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky city court
• Kamchatka regional Pension fund
• Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Employment center
• Employment center of Kluchi settlement
• Employment center of Elizovo district
• Employment center of Vilyuchinsk city
• Employment center of Milkovo district
• Employment center of Bystrinsky district
• Federal Treasury department of Kamchatka region
• Federal Service of Financial and budgetary supervision of Kamchatka region
• Taxes and duties Ministry department of Kamchatka region
• Federal State Budgetary organization Sevvostokpybvod
• State of Emergency Ministry department of Kamchatka region
• North-East territorial department of Federal Agency for Fishing
• Federal Security Service department of Kamchatka region
• Department of education of Tigil municipal district 

Unified State Exam Training courses for entering higher educational establishments of the academy Branch include the following subjects:

• Russian Language
• History
• Mathematics
• Social Studies
• English
• The selection committee is organized for the period of admission.