A student without his own desire – Kommersant Kazan

The Tatarstan parliament’s proposal to return the system of distribution of university graduates contradicts the right to free labor guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation. This conclusion was reached by the Council of Legislators of the Russian Federation after studying the initiative of the State Council of the Republic aimed at solving the problem of personnel shortage in the country. Moscow believed that Tatarstan offers a system “close in meaning to that which existed in Soviet times,” which deprives graduates of the opportunity to resign at will.

The Council of Legislators at the Federal Assembly of Russia did not support the idea of ​​the State Council of Tatarstan on mandatory employment of university graduates through distribution. The republic’s bill was considered by the commission of the Council on Education and Science. She concluded that “the project needs improvement.”

How reported Kommersant-Kazan, the parliament of Tatarstan introduced amendments to the federal law “On Education” last spring. The deputies proposed that all graduates of universities and colleges who studied at the expense of the budget should be subject to “employment by distributing them according to the qualifications they received.” The term of employment for distribution, as follows from the draft amendments, should be three years. Testing can take place in any region of the country. In case of refusal, the graduate must reimburse the cost of studying at the university to the state. The distribution plan must be drawn up by a body authorized by the government of the Russian Federation.

The State Council of the Republic then explained that compulsory employment of graduates “will contribute to the staffing of enterprises of the military-industrial complex and priority sectors of the economy of our country.”

Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Science and Higher Education Sergei Kabyshev (“A Just Russia – For Truth”) then called the proposed option radical and said that it “can hardly be considered correct and timely.” “Attempts to solve complex systemic employment problems in a directive-command manner are futile,” he said. The Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation indicated that the distribution system “was justified in the USSR,” but “today the higher education system is being formed in different economic realities.” As a result, the Tatarstan project was sent for revision.

In December 2023, the State Council of Tatarstan introduced a new project. It already assumed the distribution of only those graduates who studied at the expense of the budget and received qualifications in demand by enterprises of “strategic importance.”

The deputies pointed out that in the republic now, for example, there is a shortage of teachers, as well as specialists in the field of culture, healthcare, agriculture, and the military-industrial complex. “If we talk about individual elements that are administered and controlled, then this is quite possible,” Sergei Kabyshev said then in an interview with Kommersant-Kazan.

At the same time, federal legislators also had comments on the second draft. Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Science, Education and Culture Liliya Gumirova indicated that now “a mechanism for targeted training has already been provided, which can be resolved by concluding an agreement on targeted training.” “The solution to the problem of the shortage of specialists is possible by creating conditions for citizens to be interested in employment,” she believes. According to the senator, for this it is necessary to use “incentives such as increasing wages, creating comfortable living conditions, and providing additional social support measures.”

“The authors of the legislative initiative propose to introduce for a significant share of sectors of the economy a system of distribution of university graduates, similar in meaning to that which existed in Soviet times,” the information and analytical department of the Federation Council came to the conclusion. They noted that Tatarstan’s proposal contradicts the Constitution of the Russian Federation, according to which “labor is free, everyone has the right to freely manage their ability to work, choose their type of activity and profession.”

The upper house of the country’s parliament also recalled that in Russia universal access and free education are guaranteed and “everyone has the right to receive higher education free of charge on a competitive basis.” “These norms do not provide for additional conditions, including in the form of work or reimbursement of the cost of training,” the Federation Council indicated.

The relevant commission of the Council of Legislators agreed that the topic of “solving the problem of staffing strategic organizations with qualified personnel is relevant and important.”

However, they expressed concern that if the idea of ​​Tatarstan is implemented, graduates will work at strategic enterprises for distribution for only three years (for the period of service) and then quit.

The commission noted that “the legislative initiative does not provide social guarantees and protection for employed graduates”; in fact, graduates will be deprived of the right to terminate the contract at will. The bill does not have a mechanism for recovering the cost of training from graduates if they refuse to work. It is not clear what to do with those who did not complete their studies at the university.

“Taking into account the above, we believe that the draft needs to be revised taking into account the comments,” the commission’s draft conclusion says.

It must be approved by March 18.

The Tatarstan State Council Committee on Education, Culture, Science and National Issues, which prepared the bill, has not yet commented on the latest negative review of it. Earlier, committee chairman Ayrat Zaripov told Kommersant-Kazan that the Tatarstan parliament would not give up its idea of ​​mandatory student assignment. “In any case, this question stands. It needs to be resolved. We will look for ways to implement this idea,” he noted.

Kirill Antonov