Belarus

Belarus News reports that Universities in Belarus have announced that they will be raising tuition fees in keeping with a global trend of inflating study costs. The hike was announced by Education Minister Syarhey Maskevich in January.

Education costs are rising and it is natural that they should be partially covered by students, Maskevich said. With 10 million rubels ($3,300) allocated per student every year, the highest annual tuition fee is currently seven million rubels, which means that the cost recovery rate is around 70 percent, he said. Although the government has increased its education spending from 5.1 percent of GDP in 2010 to the present 6 percent, Maskevich said the share should be larger.

Belarus State University, Belarus State Economic University, Belarusian State University of Informatics and Electronic Engineering, and the Presidential Management Academy all raised their tuition fees, with Belarus State University – the country’s largest – upping fees by 26.6 percent.

– Belarus News
January 26, 2011

Russia

Russian Silicon Valley to Help Russia Become Leader in Innovation Technology

Russia might take the lead in the field of innovation technology within the next five-seven years, according to the Russian President’s aide Arkady Dvorkovich. The prediction was announced at the opening of the national “Russia, go ahead!” forum in December which took place in Skolkovo outside Moscow, where Russia plans to build its equivalent of Silicon Valley.  The forum was planned as a first stocktaking of Russia’s economic modernization plans. “Russia, go ahead!” is the headline of an article released by President Medvedev`s last year.

The Russian leader outlined the top five approaches to innovative economic development: IT, medicine, space, nuclear technology and energy efficiency. The research center in Skolkovo is expected to become the core of the new economic policy. Construction has been launched close to a business-school of the same name. According to Mr. Dvorkovich, Skolkovo is planned as a ‘next-generation town’ comprising experts from the leading Russian and foreign universities and labs. Skolkovo is a state-run project aimed at bringing together science, business and government.

The forum welcomed several companies ready to implement projects that might take shape in Skolkovo. Russia’s oil giant LUKOIL and state-owned ROSATOM Corporation have already signed cooperation agreements. In addition, US giants Intel, Cisco and Boeing, as well as Finland`s Nokia and Dutch Philips have announced their plans to join the Skolkovo project, which means billions of investment dollars for Russia. In response, Moscow promises tax and customs benefits as well as liberalized visa rules for all participants.

– Moscow Times
December 13, 2010

Whither Russian Higher Education and Graduate Employment?

In a recent article for University World News, Eugene Vorotnikov states that, “the prestige of higher education in Russia continues to fall in the face of reduced graduate employment prospects, poor quality of teaching and ever-increasing corruption in many universities.”

Vorotnikov goes on to add that despite the best efforts of the government to reverse the decline, the above assessment “is shared by more and more people involved in the Russian higher education system, from students to professors.”

Vorotnikov argues that many of the underlying principles behind quality higher education have been forgotten since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the subsequent loss of state control over standards, admissions and the labor ‘market’ for graduates. Citing the emergence of up to 500 commercial for-profit universities — many of dubious standards — he points to the subsequent non-competitiveness in the domestic graduate labor market.

Also fingered is the financial crisis, which has led to a drop in demand for many specialists and poor salaries for those graduates that do find work. As a result, many young professionals are forced to seek part-time jobs or work outside their specialist areas. According to the Russian research company Mar Consult, currently no more than 52 percent of graduate residents in larger cities work according to their specialization. Expert Ural magazine claims that, in recent years, skepticism about the quality of higher education has spread among employers, who are extremely reluctant to hire young professionals despite their references and knowledge.

According to Vortnikov, the “declining prestige is creating conditions for the growth of corruption as students are tempted to pay to obtain a pass in entrance and routine exams, and, in some cases even diplomas, without getting any knowledge.” He adds that in the response, the government has limited its efforts “to disparate measures such as providing financial support mostly for the country’s leading universities, announcing plans to induce top Russian scientists working abroad to return with the help of huge research grants, and rare cases of prosecution of teachers suspected of corruption.”

– University World News
January 23, 2011