On Monday, October 21, the first meeting of the interdepartmental commission for monitoring the effectiveness of Russian universities was held. One of the participants of the meeting, Vyacheslav Nikonov, Chairman of the State Duma Education Committee and head of the Russkiy Mir Foundation Management Board, spoke with the newspaper Izvestiya about the meeting’s results.
— What did the commission discuss?
— Firstly, there was a vote on the question of categorizing teaching universities into a separate group for evaluation according to supplemental requirements. Unfortunately, only 12 of the 32 commission members voted in favor of this. Secondly, the criteria for assessing graduate employment were adjusted.
— How was this provision changed?
— Initially it was proposed that there would be a count of the number of graduates who had turned to employment boards. Now the criteria are as follows – the number of graduates who have not found employment a year after first turning to the employment board.
— Was there a discussion of the issue of universities which did not provide their information?
— Yes, it was discussed. In total there are 106 such institutions, and 103 are nongovernmental. Information on these institutions has been passed along to the prosecutor’s office and Russia’s Education Oversight Service. There is a string suspicion that they simply no longer exist. They may have existed at some point but now they are no longer functioning. That’s what the entire monitoring procedure should begin with. Instead of labeling universities as ineffective we should first uncover nonexistent universities.
— What will happen to universities which falsified information?
— The information of 59 institutions raised some questions. There were falsifications and mistakes but for most of these corrected information has been presented. Those who did not present truthful information on time can most likely expect unscheduled inspections and reorganization.
Source: Izvestiya
