Havana
February 9, 2010

       Dear colleagues! This Forum gives us absolutely unique opportunity to discuss and unify our principles and approaches regarding the upgrade of higher education today.

       The priorities of state policy on education of any country in our times should lie within two critical areas: one that reflects the role of education as a social institute and social value, and the other that defines it as an economic development vehicle. Besides, the two fields are becoming increasingly more interconnected nowadays.

       The crisis became a watershed in the development of the global economy, the international community and education as well. It is obvious now, that the world economy and all other spheres of life will not be the same as before and will change dramatically. In this respect, the mission of education today is not only to follow contemporary trends and adjust to existing market requirements, but to shape the future (both in economic and social senses). More clearly, education is responsible for what, the world will look like after the crisis to some extent.

       Educated people can find a place for themselves and help their countries more precisely and successfully in the dynamically changing world. Therefore, "personal achievements" turn out to be a synonym for what we call "national development."

       Governments hold the responsibility for creating conditions for its citizens to develop - primarily through the system of education.

       We have seen that only those, who understand how to use and take advantage of their knowledge, can take the lead in the dynamically changing and competitive global environment. Therefore, it is a number one priority for any educational system to determine its strong sides, find points of growth, select centers of excellence, and then combine them to achieve a competitive advantage.

       The world is changing rapidly and the stakes are so high, that a nation can become a leader shortly after it correctly selects priorities and development strategy. However, if it does not, it will become a dismal loser, rather than a successful winner.

       This is exactly the road Russia aspires to follow and lead, seeking to find and enhance its own points of growth. "Leaders as role models" is the principle that we decided to make as a fundamental one in our national modernization strategy. It was one of the pillars for the Education priority national project, which was launched on the initiative of our President in 2006. Already over $2 billion was additionally invested to support the best innovative programs in the sphere of higher education.

       Importantly, we keep on carrying out these programs despite certain economic problems. Under the existing system we establish a network of the most advanced universities, which will serve as the basis for the development of not only higher education, but also science in Russia. Actually, we are setting up two new types of universities. The first group will include so named federal universities. These are to satisfy the demand of our innovative economy and countrywide large-scale regional investment efforts for human resources. The second group consists of national research universities, which will be derived from the strongest scientific schools. Their primary objective will be to develop scientific and innovative projects upon the request of the national government. These universities will ensure uninterrupted update of critical manufacturing technologies. Despite the economic downturn we have resolved to invest additionally more than $1 billion annually into such institutions within three next years.

       There are interesting partners for internationally acclaimed research and development centers of Latin America among our leading universities. We do hope, that such forms of cooperation as instructor and student exchange and joint research and development projects will expand.

       While competing on the global size, nations still reach agreement on the general rules for the upgrade of their educational systems. The European example, where the Bologna Convention is in force, is highly illustrative. Russia is involved in the process, and has updated its educational standards in line, with the provisions of the European declaration on education. The modular features have been introduced into out educational system, which now offers students a choice to select educational programs, depending on their professional interests.

       Moreover, you can teach and study not only at one and the same university. Student and instructor mobility is welcome now, as in this case higher education evolves to become a multi-dimensional, multi-level structure.

       While taking the full advantage of our membership in the Bologna Process, we are attaching special importance to preserving our traditional strong points. We are very proud that the Russian schools of engineering, fundamental mathematics, physics and other natural sciences are internationally recognized.

       Quite obviously, that globalization does not mean a refuse of peculiar national characteristics. We do not only try to retain our right to be different, but moreover we are doing our best to capitalize our advantages. It is the diversity that makes us strong, because it helps us exchange our advantages more actively.

       Our educational standards have changed drastically compared to what we had before. Indeed, if previous standards were sort of pattern curricula in their essence, now they indicate more clearly, what we want to have at the end of the training process. Because, it is the final result, that matters as far as the success of the educational program is concerned. This allows developing new approaches and using different methods to achieve the ultimate objective. Practice shows, that the competition, which exists between various approaches, gives better outcome, sometimes even beyond our expectations. This is how it works within a really creative intellectual process.

       The administration of higher education is changing as well. We have tended to get closer links with the business community, public and research organizations. And, of course, the state remains one of the largest employers. Universities must be awarded more state contracts on research and development of technologies for various sectors of the national economy. Importantly, students can be involved in this process. Towards this end, Russia recently approved a law, instituting the right of universities to establish small spin-off enterprises, which can employ both students and instructors.

       Dear friends!

       Nowadays employers have tended to require that employees should have special competencies and qualifications, rather than a standard level of education. Therefore, each and every employee has to think of it closely. Indeed, to get a job one needs certain skills, rather than a formal document now. In other words, the approach has shifted from "education for the time of your life" to "lifetime education," which means, that the borders between the levels of educations have become quite vague. Moreover, the differences between training and retraining, and basic and continuous education have become very slight, as these increasingly tend to mean almost the same.

       Furthermore, not only the levels of education have seen a certain erosion of the borders between them, but also whole sectors, e.g. education, science and industry. It is these integrative processes, that our $3bn program titled "Scientific and academic staff for innovative Russia" aims to support. What we are seeking in this program is the support of promising research programs, talented young scientists and research teams involving students, foreign instructors and scholars.

       Every instructor, who meets students and post-graduates at research labs and classrooms every day, will confirm, that to move forward and remain young one should work closely with youngsters, absorbing their new ideas and not fearing to learn from them.

       This is what the higher education of Europe, which is deemed to be Alma Mater of the professional education in the contemporary sense of the word, needs badly now - an interaction with younger, but not less ambitious and on the other hand very promising educational systems of Latin America. We are doomed to intellectual degradation, unless we get a "fresh blood injection."

       It is the education that forges the future, as it makes people feel protected today and necessary tomorrow. Education is a social value for each and every person, as its aim is to raise people's awareness of cultural and other achievements of humankind. Indeed, it is education that helped us all mobilize whole generations in a bid to reach goals, which mankind couldn't even dream about before.

       Attitudes to education are changing worldwide, and sometimes are far from positive. It has become an increasingly popular practice that some attributes of education are substituted for its essence: a club coat of a prestigious university often turns to be much more important, than the real results, achieved by university graduates, and the levels of knowledge and competence, they have reached. The trend is hard to be reversed. However, from my perspective, emerging economies should and can avoid the drawbacks of their older counterparts.

       This becomes possible when society, people, the state and the economy assign special missions for universities, when society demands, that they should train a cultural person, who understands and comprehends national ideals and values.

       The economic aspect of education is hardly relevant, if the social aspect is disregarded. Moreover, at a certain stage of social development the social aspect starts to prevail, and in this case education as a social value starts to bring much greater strategic gains, than pragmatic market services.

       Dear colleagues! It is impossible to confine the educational process to traditional lectures and seminars, while transferring a massive higher education system. One will need state-of-the-art technologies to ensure the continuous flow of the educational process. The most effective methods here are learning-by-doing approaches, research projects, productive learning and case studies. We should find a best approach to all students to ensure their motivation, enable them to use and develop their capabilities, and create the best conditions for leaning and mastering the competencies, while simultaneously gaining social experience. It is important to make the learning process interesting for students in order to they get satisfaction both from the results of their studies and from the very process of education.

       Dear friends!

       Russia is keenly interested in providing broad educational opportunities not only for its citizens, but also for foreign partners.

       We are doing our best to expand our capabilities and international cooperation on all levels. It's just time now for direct contacts between educational institutions. Today all students of the world should live in a joint educational environment and have a broadband access to the treasures of the world science and culture, and the best educational programs, too. Let us provide them this opportunity!