Engineering personnel for the new economy

The article studies the problem of improvement of training of engineering personnel for our economics according to the new model of its development. The country needs a technological sovereignty for its sustainable development. It is essential to make structural transformation in the economy that needs competent human resources, and especially those with technical education. Technological processes are changing significantly, and, consequently, new professions and occupations are emerging. The article indicates the disproportion on the number of higher educational institutions and the number of students between two megapolises (Moscow and St. Petersburg) and all the rest regions of Russia. The analysis of the functioning of the system of higher professional education in the 2018–2019 academic year has shown excessive contingent of students in the universities of Moscow who study for a fee. The authors suggest differentiating the Bachelors and Masters’ admission plans for school and college graduates. In recent years, our country has faced a sharp reorientation of the evaluation of educational outcomes from the concept of knowledge and skills to the concept of competency. However, the accepted within the educational standards competency approach has failed to become a breakthrough in the quality of the students’ training. It has failed to introduce any cardinal changes in the process of training and up bringing itself. The standards do not contain any recommendations on working out mechanisms of formation of graduates’ competencies for higher educational institutions. The authors suggest differentiating the concept of competency by the signs of its manifestation by an employee in his professional activity. The quality of training of the university graduates is alleged to lie in the field of teacher – learner relationships. The article reveals the need for formation of psychological and pedagogical competence of university teachers and training them to apply new pedagogical methods.