Dmitry Medvedev had a meeting with The Minister of Education and Science Andrei Fursenko

On October, 14, 2009, the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev held a working meeting with the Minister of education and science of Russia Andrei Fursenko. During the meeting various issues of developing the educational sphere, including modernization of carrying out the USE, development of the system of higher education, creation of the network of federal

The report of the working meeting with the Minister of education and science Andrei Fursenko:

D.MEDVEDEV: Andrei Alexandrovich, I have signed a decree on presidential Commission on modernization of holding the USE. The reason is naturally obvious. It is to consider all the positive moments which have been found during the carrying out of the USE this season; to evaluate everything which have been done; to pay attention to those failings which have been discovered. We have discussed all of them repeatedly. I have several times discussed them with pedagogical workers, with teachers in various formats. All of them believe that this is a step forward. But at the same time they see certain nuances, which demand some correction. That is why the Commission should summarize all these proposals. To get away from the departmental position, as it was possible of course to work inside your Ministry, I have decided to lift the level of considering this problem to the level of the Administration of the President - so that it would be possible to summarize all the positions which exist, and to more objectively examine these or those issues, which have been formulated. I would like you to take the most active participation in the work of the corresponding Commission, so that in the work of this Commission our pedagogical community could tale part, it is included into it: teachers, school headmasters, science, heads of the leading universities. So that it would be a complex consideration of all these issues under unified command. So let us work on this topic.

A.FURSENKO: Let us. Dmitry Anatolyevich, first, already according to your order we have started such work and we have prepared some materials. I suppose this is not enough yet. It will be good, if such a public commission as you said, out-departmental, will see, check one more time and evaluate. But I would like to report, that already in the very beginning of the year we held a meeting with a council of the Union of rectors, we had a board. Besides, in a number of regions commissions work on evaluating how the USE has been held. If the results are presented at the Commission, which has been created now, I hope that we in a rather short period of time will be able to report to the Commission, and then, apparently, to the chief of the Commission, to you, what general results are.

D.MEDVEDEV: You know, the goal here is very simple. The goal is not to prejudice the USE. All of us are sure that it is a right direction of modernizing our educational system, a more adequate system of evaluating knowledge. But at this, naturally, as a system it is not free from defects. Our task is to minimize these defects. At this the result of the Commission's work, of course, will not be the conclusion that it is advisable to hold the USE or to change it somehow. We will hold the USE, but the work of this Commission and the results of its work should be preparation of methodical recommendations of what is to be changed, in what volume and what subjects, how to evaluate and so on. It is to help you as the Ministry.

But I would like to repeat, to have this discussion in a maximally wide way, I have decided to make it over-departmental. So that it will help you.

A.FURSENKO: I think that only this can fully help us, because otherwise there always be doubts.

D.MEDVEDEV: I thought just about it, Andrei Alexandrovich, when taking such a decision. So, work please.

A.FURSENKO: Thank you.

D.MEDVEDEV: And let us discuss some other questions which we have agreed to discuss, including the issues of modernizing the higher education.

A.FURSENKO: I was going to report to you, you gave a corresponding order, and something has been done, and the presentation has been prepared. In due time, when you gave a task to participate in the preparation of the law on our two, it is possible to say, outstanding Moscow universities?

D.MEDVEDEV: The main universities, as we usually say, because they are really main.

A.FURSENKO: The main universities. At the same time the issue of creation a kind of a network is being considered.

D.MEDVEDEV: The system of universities.

A.FURSENKO: The system. And this system in due time was created within the national project, then you signed two decrees on creating two pilot national research universities. Today such a step has been made. So I would like to report to you, which stage we currently are at.

Concerning two main universities, the first reading of the law on these two universities has been already passed. As far as I know, we work with the Duma, we charged our state secretary with presenting these documents at the Duma, we have coordinated our position with the representatives of the Duma committees, with these two universities, which is very important. And I hope very much that this month already the law will be prepared, approved and presented to you to be signed, at this not only by the Duma, but by the Federation Council, too, and presented to you to be signed.

D.MEDVEDEV: Agreed.

A.FURSENKO: Concerning the federal universities. In spite of the fact that problems exist everywhere, including the two existing federal universities, but nevertheless it is a very important step forward. And I can say that it motivated business to work rather actively on developing these universities, especially this is seen in Krasnoyarsk, where the business invest big sums of money to create the educational system which it needs, which is needed for development of the region. That is why at the moment we, according to your order, have prepared a decree on creating several more federal universities, regarding, first of all, the solution of tasks of social and economical development of the regions, which are of huge importance for development of the country. These are Volga region, Far East region - you have already gave your orders there, but the final forming of the Far East federal university has not been established yet, so we are preparing a corresponding decree, and North-West region - I would like to discuss it perhaps in more details.

And the third thing is that the contest has been carried out, according to the law on national research universities. To the two universities, which were approved by your decrees, the Moscow engineering physics institute and the Institute of steel and alloys, 12 more winners of the contest have been added.

D.MEDVEDEV: These universities have such a title - national research university. So that anyone today could imagine a system of universities, or a pyramid. Though, perhaps, it is not quite right, because we do not have "senior" and "junior" universities - we just have bigger universities, universities with a more glorious history, that is to say. But nevertheless, we have at present two universities, which will act on the basis of the special law, i.e. these are two the most historically formed university centers in Moscow and Petersburg. Further - these are federal universities, which were created during the active work on the national project: at first there will be two, and then we will prepare proposals on several universities. Further - these are national research universities.

A.FURSENKO: Yes, research universities, two pilot projects have been created, the system of programs have been elaborated on them.

D.MEDVEDEV: MIFI and MISIS.

A.FURSENKO: MIFI and MISIS. The contest have just been carried out, according to this contest the winners are 12 more universities, which represent various regions.

D.MEDVEDEV: I see, and this is the next level, and, at last, all other universities, which do not have such a status yet.

A.FURSENKO: They do not have, but we are toughening requirements to the whole higher school, meaning that all the universities, all the higher school of Russia should provide, I would say, some other level, a better level.

D.MEDVEDEV: Our normative base, dedicated to national research universities, is based on what? What is that?

A.FURSENKO: It is in the law on higher and after-higher education.

D.MEDVEDEV: The law on higher and after-higher education.

A.FURSENKO: There are two notions: a federal university and a national research one.

D.MEDVEDEV: I.e. we changed this law knowingly to introduce this system to the legislative

A.FURSENKO: Yes.

D.MEDVEDEV: How many more? We have 12 at the moment?

A.FURSENKO: Yes, and the total number is 14. Further the programs will be accepted and approved by the Government, we are working with the universities. There are rather strict requirements. If they are not able to fulfill these programs, they may lose this status according to the law.

D.MEDVEDEV: We perform in regularly, and, perhaps, workers of the higher school still feel this difference very well. But not all people know what is the legal and financial difference. What does the giving of the status of a national research university mean?

A.FURSENKO: Firstly, it gives a certain financial support within the program which they have proposed.

D.MEDVEDEV: I.e. it is a financial support of the Program, at first.

A.FURSENKO: Yes, purely program method.

The second thing, It gives the right to walk out for learning on its standards to both federal universities and research universities. I.e, they are given more freedom, but also considerably more responsibility.

And, besides, the existing status, especially in terms of the demographic decrease, makes it more attractive. But for this we demand of them a more strict following to those priorities which you have stated. At these the choice of the universities is in a big way based on those priorities on modernization of the economics, which were formulated by you some time ago.

D.MEDVEDEV: Andrei Alexandrovich, one more commonplace is that the number of universities in our country is still surplus. I do not mean a mechanical closing, but I am speaking about optimizing this system nevertheless, at that, of course, regarding the current situation at the labor market, and some other moments. What are you doing in this sphere?

A.FURSENKO: At first, all the proposals on creating federal universities are based on the fact that the consolidation of higher education is happening in one or another region. I.e., as a rule. All this work is oriented to attach some other institutions of a higher education to a more strong leading university.

The second thing. The entrance campaign of this year shoed that a number of universities have not got enough students. It concerns both non-state and state universities. On the basis of it we offer a certain reorganization not in a forced way, but a proposal to the universities to consolidate their efforts to provide a further normal development. As we see a number of institutions of higher education cannot be kept in conditions of quite a serious demographic decline.

D.MEDVEDEV: You know it is necessary to relate to this process very accurately. Those institutions of higher education which turn to be noncompetitive, it is necessary to investigate each case objectively and addressively, starting from the point that none of students of this university should not lose anything. If a person was taken in to such a university, where the future is not quite clear, then it is necessary to provide a receiving a full higher education by this student in this institute of higher education or in a united institute of higher education, so that each student could feel his/her perspective.

A.FURSENKO: Dmitry Anatolyevich, in due time, when the work was just started, you gave us quite a strict order on this question, so any organizational measures are anticipated by the analysis - where the students will go learning and, in general, where the teachers will go working - those teachers who can provide a good university.

D.MEDVEDEV: It is right, it is necessary to start from it.

Thank you.