Prospects for Educational Reform Discussed at SPIEF
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At the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), three Russian ministers of education immediately discussed the reform of the higher education system that was launched after the start of the special operation. Presidential aide Andrey Fursenko considers the rejection of the Bologna process “a natural step for this period of time,” because all over the world, every 20–25 years, higher education has to be transformed. Minister of Science and Higher Education Valery Falkov links the need for change with the economic environment, in which Russia can rely only “on its own strength.” And MIPT Rector Dmitry Livanov generally sees in the reform a good opportunity for universities to start providing for themselves.
On the second day of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, a discussion took place on the future of Russian higher education. According to the host, three ministers who were in charge of higher education met at it – as the host explained, “two former and one present.” They discussed what challenges domestic higher education will face after its reform.
Recall that after the introduction of troops into the territory of Ukraine, a number of foreign universities refused to cooperate with Russia. After that, Russian educational officials announced a departure from the “Western” Bologna system in favor of “their own unique system of higher education.” She ended up looking like a real one. Officials proposed two levels of education – basic and specialized higher education, followed by a third – vocational education, or graduate school. At the moment, the following terms of study are assumed: for basic higher education – from four to six years, for specialized – from one to three years. A pilot project for the transition to the new system has already begun in six universities: MAI, MISiS, Moscow State Pedagogical University, the Baltic Federal University, St. Petersburg Mining University and Tomsk State University. By June 30, they must submit educational standards for the new system, as well as align them with the admission target.
Assistant to the President, Minister of Education and Science in 2004-2012 Andrei Fursenko said at a meeting that leaving the Bologna system should not be difficult, “because we have never really entered it.”
The reform, in his opinion, is a natural stage for this period of time: “Radical changes in the education system occur every 20-25 years all over the world. This system transmits a cultural code, so it can be stable for several decades, but in the end it still has to be modernized.” Also, Mr. Fursenko noted that it was decided to start “global changes” from six universities, in order to first see how effective the chosen model is, and only then change the laws. “To implement this reform, it will be necessary to change about 100 laws, this is not taking into account the accompanying by-laws,” he explained.
However, the current Minister of Science and Higher Education, Valery Falkov, did not agree with his colleague on everything. He believes that the current changes in education are related to the economic situation: “In the 2000s, we installed technologies from outside, but now we need to rely on our own strengths.” Therefore, the reform should be carried out jointly with representatives of the industrial industry, the minister said, in order to quickly respond to the demands of production and train qualified personnel for it. Mr. Falkov has high hopes for the six universities participating in the pilot project, and also notes “the great interest in the experiment of another two dozen universities.” According to the Ministry of Education and Science, this year school graduates will be able to enroll in 179 programs of the new basic higher education. Moreover, not only bachelor’s degree graduates, but also specialists will be able to apply for state-funded places in the magistracy of these universities.
Separately, Mr. Falkov promised that “in the course of the transformations, we will touch upon all issues” of higher education: from the amount of bureaucratic workload of teachers to the included training of students at the enterprise instead of classical practice.
Director General of PJSC KamAZ Sergey Kogogin criticized the current system, saying that it trains “the wrong” specialists: “We do not have enough students who can work with the equipment we are introducing.” He also noted that now two ministries are responsible for education at once (science and higher education – for universities, education – for schools and free software), which complicates integration. Mr. Kogogin sees the future in early professionalization and the introduction of specialized classes, such as engineering, as early as high school.
The entrepreneur also reminded Mr. Fursenko that he was the Minister of Education when Russia joined the Bologna system. Andrey Fursenko replied that “the current system was selected by the same president that we will elect in 2024.”
MIPT Rector, Minister of Education and Science in 2012-2016 Dmitry Livanov turned to the financial side of the issue. He noted that the transition to a new education system is taking place “against the backdrop of a turn in our industry towards Russian technology developers.” That is why, in the opinion of the rector, universities have “a unique opportunity to use the situation for their development.”
Mr. Livanov suggested that universities assemble full-fledged technology reproduction chains on their base, and then sell them to the industry.
Thus, the rector believes, it will be possible to solve the problem of insufficient financing of higher education. “Universities that can ride this wave will develop at a faster pace in the next 10–15 years and become serious players in the market,” Dmitry Livanov assured. world war.” The rector of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology noted that “the gross product of these universities is higher than that of some countries,” and urged his colleagues to strive for just such a model.
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