The Ministry of Education and Science determines the specialty – Picture of the Day – Kommersant

The Ministry of Education and Science proposes to introduce a five-year specialty, primarily for “training personnel, the demand for which is due to technological development and modernization of the economy.” These are the first concrete proposals of the department on the introduction of a new Russian model of higher education, which should replace the Bologna system. In addition, the department wants to allow graduates of the specialty to enter the budget for the master’s program “in the areas of training that are successive to the specialty they received.” A list of similar faculties will then be separately established.

Ministry of Education and Science published for public discussion the draft amendments to the law “On Education”. The explanatory note says that it was prepared “on its own initiative” in order to fulfill the instructions of Russian President Vladimir Putin to “improve the system of higher education, due to the need to reform the legal regulation … under the influence of increased geopolitical, socio-economic and technological risks.”

At the end of May, Minister of Education and Science Valery Falkov declared “Kommersant” that Russia will move away from the Bologna system and will develop its own “unique” model of higher education.

At the end of June, the reform of Russian education was discussed in the State Duma at parliamentary hearings. However, no specifics were provided at the time. It was mainly about the priority of a five-year specialist for a number of faculties and about tightening the requirements for admission to the “Bologna” master’s program (see. “Kommersant” from June 27). Then the Ministry of Education and Science announced that in the autumn they would present a set of measures to create a new system of higher education, which should replace the Bologna one.

The innovations proposed by the Ministry of Education and Science relate only to the specialty. So, the department intends to allocate it to a separate level of education. The explanatory note states that, since now the specialist’s degree and the master’s degree are classified at the same level, further education after the specialist’s degree in the master’s program “is the receipt of a second or subsequent higher education.” However, those who receive this “level of education” for the first time can now count on free education at a university.

The Ministry of Education and Science proposes to state separately in the law that those who have graduated from a specialist’s degree have the right to enter the budget for a master’s program on a competitive basis “in the areas of training that are successive to the specialty they received.” Which specialties are considered “successive” will be regulated in the federal state educational standards.

The document also assumes that the training of personnel, the demand for which is due to the technological development and modernization of the Russian economy, will be carried out “mainly under specialist’s programs.” However, the document does not say what specific specialties are in question.

As Kommersant previously reported, it was this point that hampered the development of amendments for the new model of higher education. The fact is that officials, rectors and employers could not come to a common position – for which particular faculties a five-year specialist is needed. Then the head of the Duma Committee on Science and Higher Education, Sergei Kabyshev, said that the specialty would expand in engineering and biotechnical specialties.

Kommersant sent a request to the Ministry of Education and Science and is waiting for a response. According to the plans of officials, the amendments will come into force on January 1, 2024.

Anna Vasilyeva