There are too many universities in Russia. This is the opinion of senior education officials, who have watched the number of colleges and institutes skyrocket from 300 at the time of the USSR’s collapse to 3,000 at present. According to Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, the current surplus decreases overall educational quality and produces graduates who fail to match the market’s needs. A new draft law, “On Education in the Russian Federation,” was submitted to the Duma last week with provisions for reorganizing education at all levels.
In the new educational landscape, efficiency is to be the name of the game. The University World News reports that education and science minister Dmitry Livanov predicts a one-in-five closure rate for Russia’s universities during 2013-2014. Some of these institutions will be closed outright, while others will undergo mergers in the way weaker corporations slide under the umbrella of larger, more powerful competitors.
“Carthage must be destroyed, and a significant proportion of universities that fail to meet the required standards need to be reorganized and ultimately closed down, of that I am absolutely convinced,” said Medvedev in an Open Government panel discussion with experts on education.
Other items written into the bill include an increase in the number of schools providing free education and the shifting of funds from municipal to federal coffers. The new law will replace and synthesize major educational laws from 1992 and 1996, which lack comprehensiveness and are now outdated.
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Written by Tiffany Tsai