Perishible diplomas

Perishible diplomas

RBK Journal, 01.11.2008

Milena Bakhvalova, Mariya Simonova, Nikolay Tchekhovskiy 

Gaining the lead, Russia has to make a complete U-turn in its educational policy. Russian high schools are no longer a source of pride. The level of attainment of students graduating from Russian universities is extremely low, and Secretary of Education and Skills Andrey Fursenko graded that system itself with “total E”. It is quite clear, as the experts say, that Russian universities are still using the models formed by the middle of XIX century. This autumn the educational reform has finally started in Russia. Will there be any use of that? Actually, officials had imitated a European system of education, whereas in Europe they talk about crisis of its own system admitting that new economic reality need to be handled in brand new way of knowledge acquisition.  Is Russia ready for this revolution which is also significantly promt? 

LOW-GRADE GOODS 

From one point of view, quality problems of Russian high education are caused by deterioration of economic and demographic situations. “Think it over, in the Soviet times less than 20% of school-leavers entered the universities, - imposes statistics Andrey Volkov, vice cancellor of Moscow school of management Skolkovo. – It was necessary to make special efforts to break into high education”. 

After having put the economy of Russia on a market-economy footing  the universities had to go everything alone, and a screening of incapable students had virtually broken down.  And now anyone who is solvent can become a student. Since high education initially functioned as social elevator, there was a great demand for diplomas and consequently for more universities. At the same time a birth rate reduced. “There is the same number of graduates as the intake of universities. Soon there would be less number of entrants than it’s needed” – warned the vice cancellor of Russian economical school Sergey Guriyev. 

Eventually,  it can get on for 100% educational level among young people (almost all the school-leavers enter the university), but it’s quality can hardly be described as good, says Dmitriy Badovskiy, deputy director of MGU Social Systems Institute. Diploma is not a reflection of a real level of knowledge and competence, admits Valeriy Katikalo, dean of high school of management, St-Petersburg University. But the problem of Russian education is not only accentuated by a deteriation of its quiality over the last years. The point is the principle itself on which Russian high school is based upon. The principle which is causing a dropout of specialists from alma-mater who cannot set to work at once.   “Graduates can’t be competitive in the labour-market which faces acute shortage of qualified personnel for all the services because of isolation from the modern economic reality”, complains the director of staff recruiting deparment of recruiting company Manpower, Victoria Pyatnitsa. 

Officials say that a reform of high school education can solve all these problems.  European education system is taken as a basis for a new educational model. According to the professor of York University David Noble, the simplification and acceleration of process of knowledge accumulation, as well as its transfer mainly by the use of digitazed courses of admitted specialists and online extensible approach, form a substantial part of this system. The possibility of integration of advanced knowledge is an inestimable advantage for Russian high schools, admit the experts interviewed by RBK journal. However, while Russia is assimilating a model quiate new for it,  other participants of education industry are concerned with totally different problem.

“European education model came up to its natural limits as an educational institution, a driver for science innovation and a distributor of codified knowledge among elite. The origin of these knowledge, its microstudy distribution and decreasing hierarchism of structure are calling into question the viability of universities”, as it’s said in the UNESCO’s report “Towards societies of knowledge”. Members of this organization are afraid that universities risk turning into supermarkets selling information. What does modern economy require of them?