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Education in Russia: Mapping the Future, Understanding the Past

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Education in Russia: Mapping the Future, Understanding the Past RUSSIA DIRECT MONTHLY MEMO | #7 | FEBRUARY 2014 A product of Russia Beyond The Headlines EDUCATION IN RUSSIA: MAPPING THE FUTURE, UNDERSTANDING THE PAST EDITor’s noTE Ekaterina Zabrovskaya Editor-in-Chief Economic competitiveness in the 21st century is impossible without an edu- cational system that produces gradu- ates with the skills necessary to be successful in the global marketplace. Having realized this, many countries are now going through large-scale ed- ucation reforms to meet these expec- tations. Russia is no exception. Today, reforming the educational system at all levels is among the country’s most pressing issues. In this RD Monthly memo, we ex- plore the Russian government’s plans for school reform and the challenges it faces in reviving the country’s schools and universities following two decades of a loss of funding and prestige. As always at Russia Direct, we look forward to your questions and com- ments on our reports and your sug- gestions of topics for future memos. I invite you to email me directly at [email protected]. Thank you for being our subscriber! RUSSIAN EDUCATION | #7 | FEBRUARY 2014 EDUCATION IN RUSSIA: MAPPING THE FUTURE, UNDERSTANDING THE PAST Yan Vaslavskiy Director of the School of Government and International Affairs and Associate Professor of the Political Theory Department at MGIMO-University in Moscow. Irina Kuzmina Head of Quality Assurance and Academic Development Department of the MGIMO-University in Moscow. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Russian educational system suffered significant setbacks after the collapse of the USSR. This experience undercut many of the scholarly and academic achievements of the Soviet system. Today, reviving the country’s education system is among the most pressing issues facing society. The current system has significant opportunities for growth and development, but ensuring that its full potential is achieved will require shrewd government policymaking and judicious reforms. Advocates of improving Russia’s education system have largely divided into two camps. One supports the idea © RIA NOVosti of building on the foundation of the Soviet educational model. The other advocates embracing international innovations and foreign best practices. 2 r ussia direct MoNtHLY MeMo www.russia-direct.org RUSSIAN EDUCATION | #7 | FEBRUARY 2014 SERGEY MIKHEEV_RG COMPARING SOVIET AND RUssiA The Russian government’s decision to allocate billions EDUCATION of dollars to support Russian citizens wishing to study By Yan Vaslavskiy at leading foreign universities (in exchange for a prom- ise to return to Russia for several years afterwards) can The Russian educational system suffered significant only be welcomed. Regardless of international rank- setbacks during the economic turmoil of the 1990s ings, it is clear that, in many areas, the world’s leading following the collapse of the USSR. This experience universities are ahead of Russia’s. undercut many of the scholarly and academic achieve- It is important to note that advocates of improving ments of the Soviet system. Today, reviving the coun- Russia’s education system have largely divided into try’s education system is among the most pressing is- two camps. One supports the idea of building on the sues facing society. foundation of the Soviet educational model. The other Overall, the current system has significant opportu- advocates embracing international innovations and nities for growth and development. But ensuring that foreign best practices. its full potential is achieved will require shrewd govern- ment policymaking and judicious reforms, with due re- Soviet successes, and a decline in the 1990s gard for the role of education in the national economy. The policies of the Bolsheviks still provoke heated de- It is possible to identify a range of measures that could bate among historians and the general public. Yet it ultimately lead to a better standard of education in Russia. should be recalled that they were the first to introduce First, the government must focus its efforts on reducing free education in the country in 1918-1919. the level of corruption in middle school and high school, These institutions would subsequently grow into the so that the most talented applicants secure the best plac- most comprehensive system of education anywhere in es in universities. Second, in order to provide a high level the world. The 1977 Constitution of the Soviet Union of teaching in higher education, considerably more atten- stipulated every citizen’s right to free education at all tion needs to go towards primary and secondary school- levels — from beginner to advanced (article 45). The ing. Third, public corporations and companies with state Soviet system of education had a very high “low bar”: participation should be encouraged to get more involved all citizens received at a minimum free secondary or in higher education. Such efforts could include schemes specialized education. to share experience and exchange staff, and the establish- Those who continued their studies enrolled in col- ment of specialized departments. lege or university, where education was also free. By 3 r ussia direct MoNtHLY MeMo www.russia-direct.org RUSSIAN EDUCATION | #7 | FEBRUARY 2014 the mid-1980s, about one half of high-school gradu- prospects were rosier. Many took advantage of these ates went on to higher education. In addition, in order opportunities, and a significant portion of emigrants to provide education for all, the world’s first system of never returned. long-distance learning was established for all educa- Detailed statistics on the emigration of Russian stu- tional levels. dents are unavailable. According to UNESCO, in 2008 In general, the education system in the USSR, espe- there were 43,000 Russian citizens studying abroad, cially engineering and technical disciplines, occupied a mostly in Germany, the U.S., France, Britain, Finland, leading position in the world, one that was acknowl- and the Czech Republic. According to the OECD, 31,400 edged even by the country’s political opponents. Russian students were located in OECD member coun- The collapse of the Soviet Union had disastrous so- tries in 2004. There were 34,740 Russian students in cial consequences for the former Soviet republics. OECD countries in 2006, 37,000 in 2009 and 46,000 Against a backdrop of economic crisis, a deep social in 2011. malaise set in, including the disintegration of tradi- In the midst of the collapse of the USSR, Russian re- tional institutions and the breakup of families. Upward searchers gained a new insight into the relative status social mobility, a direct consequence of the education and potential of their fields and areas of research. Un- system, came to a virtual standstill. Indeed, education fortunately, for many the findings were disappointing: in Russia, and the question of its development, are to- the collapse of the USSR undermined the development day among the most pressing issues facing Russian of Russian science and education, which for several society. years were left devoid of leadership and support from Cuts in public spending on education, coupled with a their own government and society. lack of private investment in the sector, brought many The gap between the Russian and foreign educa- consequences, including the loss of qualified teachers, tion systems began to widen. This was especially true a collapse in student funding and a deterioration of in- in mainstream educational programs, as well as in the frastructure. promotion and marketing of educational products and At the same time, the raising of the “Iron Curtain” and in the flexibility of the programs themselves. There was the significant increase in migration opened up unprec- also a widening gap in terms of the opportunity to cre- edented opportunities for college entrants and teach- ate individual educational trajectories for students with ers to train and work abroad, where the conditions and skills that are in great demand in the modern world (but not in the closed and “standardized” USSR). One heartening sign came in 2013, when one of the Brain drain: Number of Russian students leading international university rankings (published by abroad in the OECD countries the education analytical agency QS) listed 18 Russian universities, compared to only 14 in 2012. 46,000 Russia’s leading university, according to the agency, is Moscow State University (MSU). Also noted in the rankings are St. Petersburg State University (SPSU), Bauman Moscow State Technical University, Novosi- birsk State University, MGIMO-University, the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, St. Petersburg 37,000 State Polytechnic University, the Peoples’ Friendship University, the Higher School of Economics, the Urals Federal University, and others. On the other hand, the 34,740 Times Higher Education ranking of the top 200 univer- sities featured only MSU. The Shanghai academic rank- ing listed two: MSU and SPSU. Nata However, there is still a great amount of work to be L IA done to bring the Russian education system in line with M I K 31,400 hay global realities. LENK O Two camps: Soviet vs. international 2004 2006 2009 2011 Today, the Russian public is actively debating the for- mats of final school exams and university entrance Source: OECD tests and ways to improve the system. Two large camps 4 r ussia direct MoNtHLY MeMo www.russia-direct.org RUSSIAN EDUCATION | #7 | FEBRUARY 2014 GEtty imagES/fotobaNK have emerged, with almost diametrically opposing not treading water. The debate on the future of educa- views about how the Russian education system should tion in Russia is a constant theme in newspapers and on develop. popular TV shows, online blogs, and other information One of these camps favors preserving the basic pa- sites. rameters of the Soviet educational system and mini- In this debate, Russia’s education minister is perma- mizing reforms. The other advocates the wholesale nently caught the crossfire. borrowing of best practices from foreign institutions. Any tangible move by the government to reform the This applies in particular to higher education, the system in one way or another typically encounters awarding of degrees, learning formats, and so on.
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