Higher Education in Russia
March 2010
The following are a collection of news articles on Russia's institutes of higher education and other topics concerning the country's university-level education system. Most articles featured here were originally published in Russian at EduHelp.ru and have been translated and reprinted with permission by The School of Russian and Asian Studies. Direct web links to each original article are provided below.
Russian Universities Receive Right to Administer Own Entrance Exams
| | News in Brief Education and Science Schools of Hard Knocks
The Russian and US educational systems are based on different principles - does either work? Scientific Glasnost
Russia's scientific reputation will continue to dwindle unless it embraces international research. Math Genius Awarded $1 Million
The respected U.S.-based Clay Mathematics Institute has awarded a $1-million prize to the reclusive St. Petersburg mathematician Grigory Perelman for proving a mathematical theorem known as the Poincare conjecture. Teaching Tolerance from School
A new course aimed at teaching school kids respect for other cultures and religions has been launched in 19 regions. Russia Bans 'Mein Kampf'
Russian prosecutors Friday banned Adolf Hitler's 1925 semi-autobiographical book 'Mein Kampf' as extremist in an attempt to combat the growing allure of far-right politics.
History
The Sober Truth Behind Boris Yeltsin's Drinking
The daughter of Boris Yeltsin, the former Russian president, has spoken for the first time of his drinking problem, saying it was brought on by the pressures he endured as the leader of a country undergoing momentous change. Glastnost', 25 Years On
Gorbachev began his tenure seeking to reform, and thus save, a decrepit Soviet system that was falling behind its Western rivals in every way. Uses and Abuses of Stalin's Image
Stalin remains popular, and people are strangely forgiving of his crimes. But there is some resistance to the way the authorities exploit his image to their own ends. Yeltsin Monument to be Erected in Yekaterinburg
A monument to Russia's first president, Boris Yeltsin, will be unveiled in his native city of Yekaterinburg next year, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. Media and Technology Bloggers Battle Corruption in Russia
It started with a golden bed and African drummers and led to Russia's latest, surprising, political duel pitting tenacious bloggers against bureaucrats whose excesses went a step too far.
The Sale of the Independent: Bought for a Song
Alexander Lebedev was a rising star in the KGB in the dying days of the cold war. All he will say now about his time in the Soviet spy service’s London station is that he used to "read the newspapers." Gorbachev, Russian Tycoon to Set up International Media Foundation
The Independent newspapers ushered in a new chapter in their history today when they were sold to Russian billionaire and former KGB agent Alexander Lebedev.
|
|
| | |
On March 4, RIA Novosti reported that Russia's Ministry of Education and Science cited a government source as saying that in 2010, eleven Russian universities received the right to evaluate applicants not only by the results of the Unified State Exam, but also according to self-administered exams.
According to the new regulations, universities will be able to administer their own exams – but only for a few of the most popular majors.
The Moscow State Linguistics University will be administering the most entrance exams, for twenty different specialties. The Russian State Humanities University will administer ten, the School of Economics, eight, and the Moscow Pedagogical State University, seven.
The Russian Federation's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has allowed the Moscow State Institute of International Studies (MGIMO) to administer only two of their own entrance exams. The universities that are being allowed to administer only one exam each are the National Nuclear Research University (within the Moscow Engineering and Physics Institute), the St. Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation, the Russian Law Academy under the Ministry of Justice, the Kutafin Moscow State Law Academy, the St. Petersburg State University of Information Technology, Mechanics and Optics, and the Dobrolyubov State Linguistics University in the Nizhni Novgorod Region.
Additionally, Lomonosov Moscow State University and St. Petersburg State University may begin administering their own exams in all majors this year, having received the special status to do so last year.
In 2009, 24 universities received the right to administer their own entrance exams.
According to the Russian Educational Oversight Administration, the universities themselves will determine the form these additional tests will take. They may be either in oral or written form, or in the form of a test or a discussion. There may only be one test and it must be on the selected topic or specialty. Like the Unified State Exam, the test will be graded on a 100-point scale. The points entrance examinees receive on these new tests will be added to the points they receive on the Unified State Exam.
When selecting universities and majors for these additional tests, the main criteria state officials based their decision upon were competition for placements at each university in the past two years and the Unified State Exam scores of the students they admitted.
Article originally published in Russian at EduHelp.ru
Moscow State University's 'Lomonosov Olympiad 2010' Set for March 16
With the help of the Internet, MSU's Department of Foreign Languages is looking for talented students to participate in this year's "Olympiad."
Every spring, MSU holds its Lomonosov Olympiad within the International Student Academic Forum of the same name. The Olympiad's goal is to find and support gifted and talented students from all across Russia. MSU's Department of Foreign Languages and Area Studies has prepared an off-campus preliminary round for the Olympiad which will allow 9th-11th graders to become familiar with the format of university-level coursework, teach them how to complete such work, and most importantly, will help those who live far from Moscow to participate in them.
The Foreign Language Department's main partner in preparing and carrying out the Olympiad is MultiMedia Tutor, a computer technology educational center, which is well-known for its foreign-language training programs.
The off-campus tour begins March 20 at 10:00, Moscow time. Further information can be found at the Lomonosov Olympiad official website.
The contest is for students who do not want to limit themselves to just the narrow framework of standard high-school curriculum and are ready to demonstrate their creative abilities. The Olympiad will have not only formal tasks, but also creative activities.
In addition to intelligence, an interest in studying foreign languages, and a desire to succeed, the participants are also required to have access to the Internet, either at school, at home, at an Internet cafe, or at a friend's. However, some skeptics doubt whether having access to the Internet is a reasonable requirement for those who wish to participate in the Olympiad.
This year, the Lomonosov Olympiad will feature six languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, and Czech.
On March 20, participants will have to spend approximately two hours at their computers taking lexical and grammatical tests; the winner of this portion will be determined by computer. After that, they will complete a number of interesting tasks based on audio and video fragments.
Examples of tasks in both these areas are available on the Olympiad's website, where participants can also register, become familiar with the Olympiad's regulations and rules on completing the tasks, as well as read a welcoming speech from Professor Svetlana Ter-Minasova, the head of MSU's Department of Foreign Languages.
A significant contribution to the Olympiad's prize fund came from publishers of literature and foreign language textbooks such as Macmillan English and Cambridge Univeristy Press, book stores like Biblio-Globus, travel agencies such as Star Travel, and MultiMedia Tutor, the computer technology educational center. The winners will receive books on the countries whose languages are featured, language dictionaries, art books, multimedia materials for studying foreign languages, and other educational prizes and gifts, as well as certificates for educational stipends.
The overall winner of the preliminary round will receive a personal invitation to participate in the final round of the Olympiad on the MSU campus on April 10, 2010.
Article originally published in Russian at EduHelp.ru
Fursenko Against Assigning Workplaces for University Graduates
Andrei Fursenko, Head of Russia's Ministry of Education and Science, has spoken out against reviving the old Soviet system of assigning workplaces for young specialists after they graduate from university.
Fursenko and Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov met with graduate students at the Bauman State Technology Institute, where one aspiring engineer suggested returning to the Soviet practice of assigning jobs to young graduates.
Fursenko answered, "Our president has said, 'freedom is better than restriction.' Any assignment would be a restriction."
"You can suggest [assignments] so easily because you don't really know what they are, but we know because we remember them," he added. "I don't understand why students today are so in favor of these assignments."
Article originally published in Russian at EduHelp.ru
90 Billion Rubles Allotted to Leading Russian Universities for Research
At a final board meeting, Andrei Fursenko, Head of Russia's Ministry of Education and Science, made the announcement that 90 billion rubles (three billion US dollars) in funding for research were to be assigned to leading Russian universities.
The board meeting was interdepartmental – in addition to Fursenko, Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov and Minister of Economic Development Elvira Nabiullina were also in attendance.
Deputy Prime Minister Ivanov began the meeting, recalling that the recent abolition of two federal agencies – one on science and innovation and the other on education – and the subsequent transfer of their functions to the Ministry of Education and Science was simply expanding ministerial authority and increasing leaders' personal responsibility over their ministry's work. Ivanov highlighted certain changes that were necessary for Russian academics, especially those in the sphere of research and development.
"Federal ministries and departments, as well as regional authorities, spend huge amounts of money ordering such work to be done with the goal of efficiently executing government functions," Ivanov explained, but also added that it is still unclear how the results of such research is used in practice and how it contributes to the country's economic development.
According to Ivanov, the government intends to support only the academic research whose results can be used in academic publications with a high amount of citations (currently, the work of Russian academics is not often cited, according to world ratings) or in patents where their results have practical applications. Ivanov also believes that Russia needs a basic program of fundamental research.
"We will only help and support the strongest universities, not all of them," he emphasized.
Fursenko began his speech by saying that he considered one of the most significant events of 2009 to be the standardized application of the Unified State Exam, whereas the ministry's priorities previously had been on guaranteeing positions for university instructors, increasing their qualifications, and creating a new salary system.
Until 2020, it seems that Russia's education system will be in a demographic slump – with the exception of 2009, the number of first-graders enroling in school has been declining the past few years and many teachers may find themselves without a job since there are simply fewer students for them to teach. Ivanov wants to solve these problems by creating new jobs for teachers in the area of continuing education and skills training.
Fursenko also announced that Russia's leading universities will receive significant funding in the next three years for academic research. An additional 90 billion rubles from the federal budget (in increments of 30 billion rubles per year) is indeed a significant amount. Fursenko is certain that the country's best universities will soon be competitive not only with other educational institutions in Russia, but also with other leading academies, laboratories, and institutes from around the world.
Article orginally published in Russian at EduHelp.ru
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Find Out More!
History of Russian Holidays
History of the Russian Dacha
Internships in Russia
Heath and Safety in Russia
The SRAS Newsletter
Library: What to Know
Eurasian Regions and Cities
Journal for Students
More Free Resources!
Questions or comments?
Contact the editor.
