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MOVE TO A NEW MODEL OF HIGHER PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION IN RUSSIA:
RELEVANT PROBLEMS AND PATHS TO SOLVING THEM
O. I. Kosenko
In March 2008, the Russian Ministry of Education and Science, in accordance with an order from the RF President and Government, began working on the state program "Education and development of the innovation economy: introduction of a modern model of education in 20092012”. In September 2008, the project of this program, developed on the basis of the Concept for long-term socio-economic development of the Russian Federation, was examined at a board of the Ministry of Education and Science. What is the essence of this project? The strategic goal of state policy in the education sphere until 2020 is raising the availability of high-quality education, meeting requirements of the innovative development of the economy, modern requirements of society and every citizen. The following priority tasks have been determined for the development of Russian education: (a) ensuring the innovative nature of basic education; (b) forming mechanisms of quality assessment and demand for educational services with the participation of consumers; (c) modernizing institutions of education as instruments of social development; (d) creating a modern system of continuous education; (e) ensuring continuity of all levels of education on the basis of innovative education technologies.
The innovative nature of professional education will be achieved by: (1) the constantly growing research component of higher education (involving university students and teachers in fundamental and applied studies is seen as an important resource for forming the innovation economy of knowledge). According to the state program, the percentage of funds for scientific studies carried out in universities, should increase from 5% to 16% in the total amount of funds directed towards scientific studies. Associations of employers will be involved in developing legislative and other normative and legal documents in the sphere of professional education, forming the lists of areas of training (specialties), developing federal state education standards, and taking part in procedures of quality assessment of professional education. The innovative infrastructure of universities (business incubators, technology parks, venture enterprises) will be created together with business. Non-commercial organizations (i.e. public associations of employers) will form a public and state system
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of professional standards, serving as a basis for developing federal state education standards.
The main structural elements of the system of higher professional education will be universities, academies and institutes, among which the following may be singled out: (a) a network of universities of world standard, which integrate leading scientific studies and educational programs - federal universities; (b) a network of universities that realize integrated innovative program and scientific research projects supported on a competition basis - "national research universities”; (c) universities of regional significance that realize multi-profile programs for the staffing support of the socio-economic development of RF regions; (d) institutes which primarily realize baccalaureate programs (including applied programs). Legislation needs to be adequately updated for this. In 2010, a new edition of the RF law "On education” will be developed and put into effect.
One of the key changes is modernizing approaches to the existing system of the current financing of institutions of professional education. The next step is to move to normative financing per capita (appropriate norms will be developed for all areas of training). The development of a staff, scientific research and material base of establishments of professional education will be carried out through special state support, but part of this financing will be provided on a competition basis. There will be a transition of institutions of professional education to a system of stipendiums for students in need of them. A system of state support of education loans for students will be formed. It is proposed to introduce systems for paying the work of pedagogical and administrative and management personnel of educational establishments, taking into account the quality and productivity of their activity. The special standard "Modern educational management” will be developed for heads of educational organizations, which will be used for conducting certification of all heads of educational institutions.
Practice shows that lifelong learning is becoming a necessary and increasingly important element of modern education programs. By 2020, the system of continuous education in Russia will be characterized by: (a) a diversity of organization of educational services provided; a system of qualifications that is transparent for the labor market and market of educational services; (b) the presence of a mechanism of confirming the results of additional education through exams and certification; (c) the development of the system of education consulting (consulting centers on issues of receiving additional education will be formed at employment services).
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In order to provide effective management of the educational process, it is proposed to strengthen the role of society in controlling quality of education, both at the level of the institution, and at municipal and regional levels (with this goal, observer, sponsor and management boards will be created, and the role of professional academic management will increase -the community of teachers and scientific workers will be one of the main participants in taking decision and control of quality in the education system). Educational institutes will regularly provide society and consumers of educational services with detailed information about their activity, posting the information on their Internet sites.
The Russian system of professional education will work intensively with foreign education systems. With this goal, it is proposed to have regular participation of Russian universities in international comparative research, active use of the best international standards and education technologies by Russian universities, the increase of import and export of education services (invitation of scientific and pedagogical staff from abroad by Russian universities, and activity by Russian teachers and scholars at partner universities abroad).
There are grounds to believe that during the international economic and financial crisis, the negative consequences of which have already been felt in many countries, including in Russia, the terms for realizing the scheduled program for modernizing Russian education will be postponed. However, this process, in our opinion, must be activated this, and below we will formulate a number of proposals concerning this. Practice shows that the sources of financing of the Russian university today may be: (1) budget funds (but they must be targeted and spent on training specialists which the state is in need of); (2) investments of entrepreneurial structures (these organizations may be sponsors of the university or clients of specialists whom they are prepared to employ); (3) paying students to study (the level of this type of financing should be established by the university independently, but taking into account the real situation on the market of education services); (4) additional funds which the university earns on the basis of contracts with interested organizations).
The commercialization of universities is a typical phenomenon in many countries with a market economy, but this process should be controlled by society. Evidently, state bodies together with nongovernmental organizations interested in the quality teaching of students should provide systematic financial supervision over the expenditure of budget and non-budget funds on education, in order to avoid their being
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used inappropriately. Furthermore, the state should create improved qualities for financing for universities training high-quality specialists (for example, to provide privileged loans and budget subsidies, and also state orders for training specialists in a certain field). Finally, the state should assist universities in attracting business structures to finance them, which is quite possible if the latter are materially interested in this (for example, in the form of privileges on taxation).
As we know, if there is insufficient financing of a university, it is impossible to provide quality teaching. And this means that experts at the RF Ministry of Education and Science should formulate specific requirements from the volume of financing of the university (taking into account current taxation). At the same time, one must take into account the necessary funds for acquisition, maintenance and updating of the study materials base, the fund for paying teachers’ work, expenses on methodical and scientific research work etc. The minimum level of financing should evidently be established for universities of different types and number of students. At the stage of licensing the university, its financial state should be inspected (the educational establishment should have a sum on its transaction account that is sufficient for normal functioning of all its services, for supporting the previously formed education material base (previously purchased or rented spaces designed for study purposes, necessary laboratories, computer classes etc.). It is expedient for the state to regulate the balance of the main expense articles of the financial resources of the university. In our opinion, at least 70% of all finances received by the university in the form of payment of students for study should be sent towards ensuring the study process of the rest - for common needs, and this ratio should be established legislatively. If in the process of inspecting the university it is established that its financial state does not ensure quality instruction of students, then this university, in our opinion, should be declared bankrupt. At this university, temporary state management should be introduced with subsequent changes in its charter members on a competitive basis.
As we know, the will of the charter members of the university, their ideas about the main priorities of educational activity, the forms and methods of their realization, are embodied in the actions of the management bodies of the university and its administration. At the same time, it is important not to forget that observing principle of inter-university democracy, which is characteristic for the best universities in the world, is a necessary condition for embodying the most progressive ideas in the
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sphere of education. However, what has long become a tradition at foreign universities requires state support at Russian universities. So that the role of the university’s academic council does not come down to the level of a consultative body under the rector, we believe that the right of the academic council of any university should be enforced legislatively, regardless of the sources of its financing, and that fundamental issues of strategy and tactics of education activity should be solved, and the academic council should be the main controlling body in relation to the university administration. On this basis, the chairman of the academic council of the university should not be the president or the rector of the university, as they are practically the heads of the university administration. To make sure that the wrong people do not get into the academic council, normative documents should formulate the main requirements for candidates for substitute heads at the university (from the president and rector to the dean of faculty and the head of department), and their authorities, level of responsibility, and procedure of election or appointment should be determined.
As we know, university teachers in Russia are presently paid very modest rates, which means that each teacher, besides his main job, must actively look for additional ways of earning money. In order to provide the necessary living standard for the teachers and their families, teachers of universities provide tutoring, hold lessons at several different universities (on conditions of hourly payment), and give consultations to specialists at educational centers etc. In wasting their energy and knowledge, many teachers not only stop "growing”, but are unable to maintain their potential at the necessary level. At the same time, the activity of the teacher of the modern university is very complex and specific. The process of obsolescence of knowledge is becoming faster, and this means that a university teacher must take part in creating new knowledge, must improve himself in the chosen field of knowledge, expanding and deepening his intellectual potential. Furthermore, the university teacher must teach students. In a word, the teacher of the modern university today has serious and laborious tasks, which it is only possible to carry out under certain conditions. Above all, a decent level of salary must be ensured for university teachers at their main workplace. To achieve this on a national scale, it is evidently necessary to establish and periodically review a minimum salary for teaching, which must be sufficiently high for staff university teachers. Thus the material interests of university teachers will be protected from abuse by the employer, and their need for numerous
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additional sources of income will lose its importance. Practice also shows that an important stimulus to high-quality work of a university teacher, besides a high salary, is the creation of real possibilities for his creative and professional growth. In our opinion, staff teachers should regularly be able to raise the level of their qualification at the university’s expense in the main universities of Russia, and even abroad.
In conclusion, it should be stressed that the RF Ministry of education and science, as the authorized representative of the state, is obliged to inform the population regularly about the results of state certification of universities. On the basis of these inspections, the ministry could assess universities guided by the following criteria: (a) educational activity of the university corresponds to the state educational standard; (b) educational activity of the university is higher than the state educational standard; (c) educational activity of the university is lower than the state educational standard. Information of this kind published in the media will help future specialists and their parents to get a clear idea about which universities provide high-quality education, and which do not. In this way, the state, in the form of the RF Ministry of education and science would on the one hand give real assistance to everyone wishing to receive higher education to make the correct choice of university, and on the other, by giving wide publicity to the main results of state certification of universities, to stimulate the universities to be more energetic in dealing with shortcomings revealed, and take the necessary measures to ensure high-quality instruction of students.
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