Belarus

‘Politicized’ Students to be Purged; Minister to Appoint Heads of Private Schools

Education Minister Alyaksandr Radzkou announced to the Chamber of Representatives Oct. 3 that one of his ministry’s duties is to ensure that the educational process is not “politicized,” Belapan news agency reported. The same day he also introduced a bill on higher education that, if enacted, would empower the education minister to appoint and dismiss the heads of private institutions of higher education.

The bill proposes a two-stage system of higher education. The first stage would take four to five years, with another year or two of training to complete a master’s degree. The bill also makes mandatory a two-year job placement for university graduates, all of whom would be obliged to sign contracts with universities stating that if they fail to meet their work obligations they would have to repay the full costs of their education. The minister said there are currently 360,000 students enrolled in Belarusian institutions of higher learning, including 300,000 in state-run facilities.

Radzkou’s comments regarding the politicization of higher education were in reference to a directive he issued in May, according to which educational institutions can expel students who participate in opposition demonstrations. The directive instructs tertiary institutions to conduct an investigation into any case of student participation in an unauthorized demonstration staged by opposition groups and take disciplinary action that could include expulsion.

— RFE/RL
Oct. 4, 2005

Russia

New Schools Planned in Chechnya

Two new business schools designed for business start-ups will be established in Chechnya as a part of a small business-development program, according to the Russian Economic Ministry. The offices, equipped with computers and modern communications, will be located in the Chechen capital of Grozny and the city of Shali. The 2005 federal budget has allocated US$52.6 million for the program, which includes the establishment of the two business schools, small business-export support and micro-credit development programs.

— Russian News and Information Agency (RIA Novosti)
July 28, 2005

2 Years Added to Mandatory Schooling

Russian education officials are planning to introduce a new structure to compulsory schooling by adding an extra two years to the current nine years of mandatory schooling. Education and Science Minister Andrei Fursenko made the announcement in mid-September after a meeting with a Russian Union of Rectors representative and Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov.

— ITAR TASS
Sept. 14, 2005

Violence Keeping Foreign Students at Bay

Racist violence against foreign students in some regions has become so common that the government announced in October that it would reassess the list of universities that are currently recommended for international students. Minister of Education Andrei Fursenko’s announcement followed a September announcement asking colleges to work more closely with the police to protect foreign students from racist attacks after a student from the Republic of Congo died of injuries from a violent assault in St. Petersburg.

St. Petersburg-based foreign students protested last fall after the death of a first-year medical student from Vietnam who had been beaten and stabbed by a mob of suspected white supremacists outside a subway station. Foreign students, especially those with dark skin, are regularly subjected to harassment and race-based assaults throughout the country. St. Petersburg and the city of Voronezh, approximately 300 miles south of Moscow, are recognized as the most dangerous cities.

Approximately 11,000 foreign students currently attend Moscow universities, half the number of Russian graduates who leave to work abroad each year, the Rossiiskaya Gazeta reported in September. In St. Petersburg, there are an estimated 15,000 foreign students, while Russia as a whole is home to less than 3 percent of the world’s internationally mobile students, according to a recent Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development report. City officials estimate that Moscow-based schools bring in almost US$30 million in revenues from foreign students, while the city government spends more than $140.01 million on public education subsidies. Education officials who have commented on the low number of foreign students coming to Russia point to inadequate housing arrangements, violence, police brutality and Russia’s current economic instability.

— Rossiiskaya Gazeta
Sept. 1, 2005

EU, Russia Strike Student Visa Deal

Russia and the European Union announced at the beginning of October that officials would sign documents by the end of the month to free up visa regulations in a deal designed to ease relations strained by the recent expansion of the European Union.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair hosted President Vladimir Putin for a one-day European Union summit in London. According to statements made after the summit, visa rules for students (as well as businessmen and diplomats) will be eased in order to promote greater mobility between the two regions. Russia is a signatory of the Bologna Process, an initiative aimed at harmonizing educational systems and structures across member states. One of the main tenets of the Bologna Process is to greatly increase academic mobility. With the signing of this new deal, possibilities for academic mobility to and from Russia should be greatly improved.

— The Associated Press
Oct. 5, 2005

Turkmenistan

Only Muslim Department Closed

Turkmenistan’s only university department of Muslim theology recently was closed. This is believed to be a reflection of President Saparmurat Niazov’s concern of the rise of radical Islam in the wider Central Asian region, The Institute for War and Peace reported.

Turkish staff teaching at the Islamic theology faculty of the main country’s university in the capital Ashgabat had their contracts terminated by a June 30 presidential decree, and 20 students attending a preparatory course were told their studies would not continue. When the university reopened this fall, the theology department was merged into the history faculty, and the number of students reduced.

This move comes as part of a series of moves by Niazov to bring forth his doctrine, detailed in his book Ruhnama, which he has ordered placed next to the Koran in mosques.

— Institute for War and Peace Reporting
Aug. 5, 2005

Ukraine

Education Agreement Signed

Russia and Ukraine have agreed to renew cooperation of education and science between the two countries, within the framework of an agreement signed between the countries in July 1995.

The ministers will concentrate their efforts on extending contacts and exchanging scientists, coordinating education and scientific institutions, coordinating experts from state education bodies in charge of the formation of the European educational space under the Bologna Process and increasing exchange quotas for students and young scientists to study and work in Ukraine and Russia.

The agreement also specifies an increase in the teaching of the Russian language and Russian literature in Ukraine, and the Ukrainian language and literature in Russia. Also, it outlines a meeting between the heads of Ukrainian and Russian universities by the end of the year. Almost 1.5 million children study in Russian at Ukraine schools, the Ukraine Education Ministry said.

— BBC Monitoring
Aug. 17, 2005