Regulation on the Annual International Educational Campaign "Geographical Dictation"

1. General Provisions

1.1. 1.1. The present Provision defines the procedure and conditions of holding the annual international educational campaign "Geographical Dictation" (hereinafter referred to as the Dictation).

1.2. The Organizer of the Dictation is the All-Russian Public Organization "Russian Geographical Society" (hereinafter referred to as RGS, or the Society).

1.3. The general management of preparation, carrying out and summarizing the results of the Dictation is performed by the Organizing Committee; operational management is performed by the Working Group. The structures of the Organizing Committee and the Working Group are formed of the list of representatives of the RGS, partnering organizations and executing organizations.

1.4. Questions for the Dictation are to be composed by a group of authors, which is formed by the Working Group. The latter consists of representatives of specialized educational and scientific institutions and those of specialized organizations having the relevant experience of intellectual games development.

1.5. 1.5. Dictation tasks may include questions received as part of the international "Write your question for Geographic Dictation" and “Write your question as a whole family for Geographic Dictation” campaigns (hereinafter referred to as the campaigns), which took place on the official website of the Russian Geographical Society on the Internet from March 4 to June 28, 2024.

1.6. Russian companies, whose activities are related to various areas of Earth science, also participate in generating the tasks of the Dictation. Questions from organizations are included in Dictation variants with the obligatory indication of the author.

1.7. All tasks of the Dictation, including questions received as part of the Action, are subject to mandatory examination. The composition of the expert commission, including professional geographers is determined by the Working Group. Tasks are to be corrected basing on the results of the examination, if necessary.

1.8. The Dictation shall be carried out at the venues in all constituent units of the Russian Federation and in foreign countries.

1.9. Informational support is provided by the international, federal and regional media.

1.10. Detailed information on the Dictation is provided on the website http://dictant.rgo.ru (hereinafter referred to as the Dictation Website).

2. Aim, Objectives and Principles of the Dictation

2.1. The Dictation is carried out aiming at promotion of geographical knowledge and increasing the interest to the geography of Russia.

2.2. Objectives of the Dictation are as follows:

  • motivating various population strata to study the geography of the native land, the knowledge of which is the integral component of the educated people;
  • increasing the interest to Russia and spreading the trustworthy information about Russia abroad;
  • providing the opportunity to Russian residents and citizens of foreign countries to participate in the intellectual competition in geography and to get to know their result;
  • attracting mass media to the issue of geography promotion.

2.3. The Dictation is based on the following principles:

  • principle of voluntariness of participation in the Dictation, its preparation and carrying out;
  • principle of openness: everybody can take part in the Dictation, irrespective of age, education, social set-up, religious beliefs and nationality;
  • principle of availability: participation in the Dictation is carried out free of charge; each participant of the Dictation is provided with the writing form of the Dictation and with the task form of the Dictation; participants are guaranteed to have the check-up of their Dictation results and to obtain the results in case of having the Individual Identification Number and the QR-code which are provided during the participation in the Dictation;
  • principle of anonymity: participants of the Dictation do not enter their names;
  • principle of competence: experts in geography and intellectual games participate in preparation of questions for the Dictation and check-up of works;
  • principle of unity of time, the order of writing and check-up criteria: the Dictation is carried out at one day at the same (local) time in all constituent units of the Russian Federation and in the foreign countries; participants of the Dictation are given equal time for performance of the tasks; all tasks are checked-up and measured according to uniform criteria;
  • principle of the barrier-free environment: participation on the Dictation is available for physically challenged people, sight-disabled persons.

3. Participants of the Dictation

3.1. Residents of Russia and foreign countries speaking Russian and/or languages into which one of the versions of this year's Dictation will be translated, in accordance with paragraph 5.4, regardless of age, education, social background, religion and citizenship, can participate in the Dictation.

3.2. One can become a participant in the Dictation by applying to any venue of the Dictation, regardless of residence (registration). The address of the nearest venue can be found on the Dictation Website.

4. Venues of the Dictation

4.1. Any organizations in Russia and foreign countries, including general and professional educational organizations, institutions of higher education, scientific, public organizations, regional branches of the Russian Geographical Society, RGS Centers abroad, Russian Centers of Science and Culture abroad, and others may perform as the venues of the Dictation.

4.2. The venue of the Dictation is subject to compulsory registration on the Dictation Website in accordance with the registration deadlines. Registration after the registration deadline is not allowed. For the purposes of venue registration, an Application Form should be filled out in the Personal Account after registration on the Dictation Website. After the registration process, the Application Form is to be checked by the Organizer and published on the Dictation Website in case of no additional demands.

4.3. Whenever appropriate, the venue of the Dictation organizes a barrier-free entrance for disabled people: availability of special lifts/pedestals, elevators, wide doors; information in a form accessible to the disabled people, admission of sign language interpreter, admission of a guide dog and other conditions of accessibility of the venue. Information about such features of the venue of the Dictation is indicated when filling out the Application Form to establish a Dictation venue.

4.4. Specialized venues or premises at the standard venues of the Dictation can be arranged for the visually impaired persons. In this case, the responsible managers of the venues will be provided with a special variant of the Dictation for the visually impaired people for compulsory use. Information about the accessibility of the venue for the visually impaired persons will be displayed on the Dictation Website in the "Geography of the Dictation" section.

4.5. The Head of the organization responsible for the Dictation serves as the Head of the venue. The Responsible Manager of the venue is the person authorized by the Head of the venue to organize and carry out the Dictation.

4.6. During the preparation for the Dictation, the venues receive comprehensive information, advisory and methodological assistance, as well as access to all necessary documents in Russian and English in the Personal Account: Dictation writing forms, instruction for carrying out the Dictation and filling out the forms; official banners and the design style of the Dictation; the task forms of the Dictation, the presentation materials to display on the screen and the scenario plan of the Dictation.

4.7. The venue undertakes to organize and carry out the Dictation, including:

  • providing participants of the Dictation with equipped rooms with seats, multimedia projector and other equipment for demonstration of tasks of the Dictation;
  • printing out the Dictation writing forms according to the amount of persons who wish to participate in the Dictation and according to the seat capacity of the venue;
  • printing out the Certificate of participation in the Dictation according to the seats amount and providing participants with these Certificates right after participating in the event;
  • printing out the task forms of the Dictation according to the amount of persons who wish to participate in the Dictation and according to the seat capacity of the venue;
  • providing participants of the Dictation with pens or pencils (whenever possible);
  • involving specialists in geography, teaching staff and celebrities among travelers, writers, public persons, actors, journalists, TV presenters, politicians (whenever possible) to reading out the Dictation tasks;
  • carrying out photo and/or video shooting of the Dictation (whenever possible);
  • organizing the educational and (or) entertainment program promoting the spread of geographical knowledge and cultivation of the interest to geography, educational tourism, environmental protection and other areas on the day of the Dictation;
  • scanning and uploading of the copies of the filled out Dictation forms on the Dictation Website;
  • providing photos and short information report on carrying out the Dictation.

4.8. Participation of scientific, educational, public and other organizations in the Dictation as a venue is voluntary and free of charge. Volunteers may be involved for assistance if necessary. Expenses on printing out forms, stationery acquisition, using office equipment and premises are covered by the organization which organizes the venue.

4.9. Head of the venue is responsible for observation of the principles and the order of the Dictation. In case of discovering violation of the principles and the procedure of the Dictation, the Organizer of the Dictation reserves the right:

  • to expulse the underperforming venue from the list of venues of current year (with cancellation of the results of the Dictation in this venue) and to prohibit the participation of this venue in the Dictation of the next year;
  • to publish the information about the unconscionable performance of conditions of carrying out the Dictation by the Head of the venue.

5. Organization and Carrying Out of the Dictation

5.1. The Dictation is carried out within 2 (two) days in all constituent units of the Russian Federation and in foreign countries. The date and time of the Dictation, as well as other important dates are specified in Stipulation 6 of the present Provision.

5.2. In case of deterioration of the epidemiological situation in the region due to the COVID-19 pandemics, the organizer of the venue shall be given the opportunity to change the format of the action from in-person to remote. Participants who have pre-registered at the venue will receive a special link, by clicking on which they can write the Dictation in remote format.

5.3. The Dictation in in-person and remote formats shall be carried out exclusively on the first day of the Action. On the second day, the Dictation may be carried out only in an in-person format.

5.4. The Dictation is designed in four variants:

1) the main variant for the Russian Federation in the Russian language, an adapted variant for participants in foreign countries in the English, French, Chinese, Arabic, Spanish and Hindi languages;

2) variant for visually impaired people in Russian and English;

3) one variant for online Dictation in Russian and English (Extra-variant);

4) one variant for demonstration in Russian and English.

All variants of the Dictation are identical in complexity.

5.5. The tasks of the Dictation consist of closed-type questions, including the tasks for setting a right order, choosing of extra option out of the group, match making and other tasks, designed on the basis of the content of educational programs in geography of basic general and secondary general education in the Russian Federation.

5.6. The Dictation variant consists of 40 questions, divided into two parts, differing in complexity. The first part (10 questions) of basic level ("geographical training") is prepared on the basis of the well-known geographical facts. The second part (30 questions) demands to apply imaginative thinking, system logic and erudition.

5.7. The dichotomous grading system (0/1) shall be applied to calculate the results of each variant of the Dictation. For each correct answer, a participant gets one (1) point, for a wrong answer – 0 points. There can be only one correct answer to each question.

5.8. Each participant of the Dictation receives two results. For the first part – as the number of points and the short review estimating level of competence within the given limits (0-5, 6-10 correct answers). For the second part – in the form of score (the number of points). The maximum score for the second part is 30 points.

5.9. The Dictation may be held in the official language of the hosting country upon the condition that the text of the Dictation is translated on a voluntary basis.

5.10. In order to prevent informational dissemination each venue appoints the person responsible for non-discloser of information concerning the contents of the Dictation prior to the start of the Dictation.

5.11. Before the start of the Dictation, each participant receives a printed Dictation writing form, the printed task form of the Dictation and oral instruction for filling out the form. Performing time of completion of the tasks is no longer than 45 minutes. The total duration of carrying out the Dictation, including instructions of the participants is 60 minutes.

5.12. Each participant gets the Dictation writing form with the Individual Identification Number and QR-code. The number and the QR-code are also duplicated in the additional sheet which the participant keeps after the Dictation. Using the Identification Number and the QR-code the participant shall check the results on the Dictation Website. The procedure for assigning Individual Identification Numbers and QR-codes is specified in the instructions for carrying out the Dictation.

5.13. Participants of the Dictation are recommended to perform tasks individually, without assistance and use of external sources of information. For visually impaired persons technical assistance of volunteers is possible.

5.14. The venues scan the completed and handed over Dictation writing forms; scanned forms are uploaded in the Personal Account on the Dictation Website in the time limits mentioned in Stipulation 6 of the present Provision.

5.15. The venues are responsible for transfer of the forms completed by participants to the Organizer of the Dictation.

5.16. Handed over Dictation writing forms may not be reviewed and returned to participants of the Dictation. The appeal is not available.

5.17. The participant bears responsibility for correct filling of the form. In case of incorrect filling of the form the results of the Dictation shall be canceled.

5.18. Results of the Dictation by individual participants (according to Individual Identification Numbers and QR-codes) as well as the correct answers to the tasks of the Dictation are published on the Dictation Website within the deadlines specified in Stipulation 6 of the present Provision.

5.19. On the day of the Dictation, individuals who are not able to attend a venue in person have the opportunity to write the Dictation online.

5.20. Access to completing the Extra-variant of the Dictation online via the Dictation Website opens on November 17 at 14:00 Moscow time.

5.21. Right after finishing of the Extra-variant of the Dictation the participant is provided with the results.

5.22. Each venue participating in the Dictation receives the Letter of Appreciation addressed to the Head of the venue and the Responsible Manager of the venue. The Letter of Appreciation is to be found in the Personal Account only after the Organizers of the Dictation have checked the correctness and approved the forms filled out by participants.

5.23. Each participant who has written the Dictation at a venue in person or remotely is provided with the Certificate of Participation right after finishing of the Dictation. Organizers of the Dictation provide layouts of the Certificates to each venue in the Personal Account.

5.24. The Certificate of Participation in printed or electronic form shall be issued exclusively at the venue of the Dictation.

5.25. Should the participant be unable to obtain the Certificate for some reason, such a participant is expected to apply for its issuance to the venue, where he or she wrote the Dictation.

5.26. Each venue that conducts the Dictation is provided with layouts of Appreciation Letters for organizational and volunteer assistance. The Letters may be found in the personal account and may be issued by the Head and / or the Responsible Manager of the venue at their discretion.

5.27. The storage period for the completed Dictation writing forms is 1 year.

5.28. A Statistical Report shall be generated on the results of the Dictation.

5.29. To celebrate the 10th (tenth) anniversary of the Dictation, the Organizers shall hold a prize draw among the participants who have written the Dictation at a venue in person based on the Individual Identification Numbers (according to terms and conditions of the provision of the prize draw organization).

6. Important dates – 2024

1. Registration of venues of the Dictation on the Dictation Website: from August 26 to November 8, 2024.

2. Providing the venues with access to instructions for carrying out the Dictation on the Dictation Website: September 9, 2024.

3. Providing Venues with access to the Dictation writing form, layouts of the Certificate of Participation, and video files on the Dictation Website: starting from September 21, 2024.

4. Providing the venues with the scenario plan of the Dictation: by October 28, 2024.

5. Providing the venues with the access to the task forms of the Dictation, PowerPoint presentations, and video presentations with the Dictation tasks on the Dictation Website: starting from November 6, 2024.

6. Carrying out the Dictation at the venues: 12:00 noon (local time), November 16-17, 2024.

7. Organising the Main venue of the Dictation and carrying out of the remote format: 12:00 noon (local time), November 16, 2024.

8. Carrying out the Extra-variant of the Dictation on the Website of the Dictation: from 14:00, November 17, 2024, till 14:00, December 1, 2024 (Moscow time).

9. Loading by the venues of the scanned forms of the participants to the Dictation Website: from November 18 till December 10, 2024.

10. Publication of the correct answers on the Dictation Website: December 10, 2024.

11. Publication of the individual results of the Dictation on the Dictation Website: starting from December 12, 2024.

12. Holding a prize draw among the participants who have written the Dictation at a venue in person on December 25, 2024.

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