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THE NON-GOVERNMENTAL UNIVERSITY CLUSTER IN THE SYSTEM OF LIFELONG PROFESSIONAL TRAINING:
REGIONAL MONITORING
T. V. Prok
The paper examines features of the territorial structure of the nonstate higher education cluster in the continuing vocational education system.
Key words: nonstate higher education, continuing vocational education, cluster method.
One of the least known areas in the system of lifelong professional training is the study of the structure of the non-governmental sector of higher education. The cluster approach can be applied to study the organization of the non-governmental sector of higher education in the lifelong professional training system, which allows a comprehensive examination of the changes occurring in the sector’s structure.
Three main stages may be singled out in the growth and development dynamics of the non-governmental higher education cluster in the lifelong professional training system.
The 1st stage (1990-1994/1995) was the rise of the first non-governmental higher education establishments in Russia. Their rise coincided with the process of formation of the lifelong training system, and was originally aimed at working within the framework of the lifelong education concept implementation. There were 45 non-governmental higher education establishments in Russia in 1991. After the Law of Russian Federation on Education was adopted (July 1992), which provided for creation and equal functioning of educational establishment of different organizational and legal forms, and gave legality to the term “non-governmental educational establishment”, the growth rate of non-governmental institutions increased. Their number grew 4.3 times in 1992-1995, and reached 193 in 1995, initiating the formation of non-governmental higher education cluster in the system of lifelong professional training.
The 2nd stage (1995/1996 - 2008/2009) featured rapid growth in the number of private universities, and the formation of non-governmental higher education as a subsystem alternative to the governmental system. In the structure of lifelong professional training, private universities have become real competitors to state universities in the group of humanities in a relatively short period of time, and have occupied their own niche in other areas of areas training as well. The growth dynamics of the non-governmental cluster before the crisis remained positive. During the period starting from 1993/1994 and up to the beginning of the critical stage in 2008/2009, the number of private universities in Russia has increased from 78 to 474, or 6-fold, and their share in the total number of universities in Russia for the period was 41.8%. The number of students in them increased from 70,000 to 1,293,300, or by 18 times, and their share in the total number of students of the Russian Federation was 17.3%, reaching its peak. The rapid and largely chaotic extensive development of the non-governmental higher education cluster has given rise to a number of growing pains, the most acute problems being: the
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instability of the structure, and a high degree of separation of private universities and the related problem of the quality of training, which in many ways foreshadowed the advent of the critical stage.
The 3rd, and critical stage, has gone from 2008/09 to the present. Upon reaching the maximum value of the main quantitative indices in 2008/09, the subsystem of non-governmental higher education entered a critical stage of its development. The beginning of the critical stage was in 2008/2009, after the global economic crisis that swept Russia in the autumn of 2008. As a result of the economic crisis, the effective demand for services of private educational institutions was reduced significantly, which led not only to a reduction of the growth rate, but also to the closing of a number of private educational institutions. The onset of the crisis in the growth and development dynamics of the nongovernmental higher education cluster state was proven by the following important circumstances.
Firstly, the negative dynamics of the basic quantitative indices. The number of private universities decreased from 474 to 437 from 2008/2009 to 2012/2013, and the number of enrolled students of private universities decreased from 1,298,000 to 930,000, while admission to private universities fell from 279,000 to 186,600, or almost twice. The negative trend, we believe, will continue in the future, as evidenced by the following key circumstances.
Secondly, the critical demographic situation in Russia, with an annual reduction in the number of high school graduates, will continue until 2020 according to demographic forecasts. The demographic situation has significantly exacerbated the competition between governmental and private universities, and has negatively affected the admission dynamics and the number of students in private universities.
Thirdly, the overproduction of humanitarian specialists in regional labour markets, who are trained mainly in private universities.
Fourthly, the internal contradiction of the structure of the non-governmental higher education cluster. The structure of the cluster is very heterogeneous and unstable, has financial and management risks extrinsic for the governmental education, has large industrial and territorial (regional) differences, and a high degree of differentiation. Private universities range from the most efficient nongovernmental universities, which are adequate competitors to the state governmental institutions of higher education, to the worst "commercial higher schools" aimed only at commercial gain, with a large interlayer of other nongovernmental universities, which are differently organized, implement different strategies, have different starting stories, a different personnel composition, etc.
The fifth most important factor is the modernization of the higher education system in Russia, which optimizes the network of higher education institutions. Since 2012, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation has been conducting annual monitoring of universities’ efficiency. Participation in this monitoring has become mandatory for private universities since 2013. According to the monitoring results, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation is reorganizing the inefficient private universities in order to improve the overgrown network of non-governmental institutions and their branches. By eliminating uncompetitive private universities, the sectoral and territorial structure
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of the non-state cluster in the lifelong professional education system is narrowing. To analyze the changes taking place in the territorial structure, it is indicative to look at regional monitoring of federal districts in terms of development and dynamics of non-governmental higher education (the number of private universities, number of students in them, admission and graduation figures) at the critical stage, 2008/09 to 20012/13.
Table 1
Development of the cluster of non-state higher education in federal districts of the Russian Federation in 2008-2013
Federal districts 2008\2009 2012\2013
Number of higher educatio n institutio ns Number of student s (thous. pers.) Matric ulation (thous. pers.) Graduat ion (thous. pers.) Numb er of highe r educa tion institu tions Numb er of studen ts (thous. pers.) Matricul ation (thous. pers.) Graduati on (thous. pers.)
Russian Federation 474 1298.3 279 233,2 437 930.1 186.6 271.9
Central 228 607.5 119.4 106.7 212 410.1 73.9 138.8
(Moscow) 166 419.5 80.3 75 147 233.2 41.6 93.6
Northweste 54 114.8 27.9 21 45 88.6 17.7 22.3
rn (St. Petersburg) 41 58.6 15.7 11 36 46.1 9.5 11.5
Southern 39 96.4 22 18.3 38 72.1 14.9 18.9
North Caucasian 34 58.9 12.4 11 32 48.6 10.1 11.6
Volga 51 226.4 52.6 41 44 159.6 34 43.4
Ural 22 80.1 17.4 14.1 23 57.1 11.8 13.9
Siberian 33 87 20.1 16.5 33 72.7 19.4 17.9
Far East 13 29.4 7.2 4.6 10 21.2 4.7 5.1
Source: Regions of Russia. Socio-economic indexes, 2013: Stat. coll. / Rosstat. - M.: 2013, pages 290307.
As the table shows, most federal districts of the RF demonstrate negative dynamics, i. e. a reduction of all quantitative indicators of the non-governmental higher education cluster. The largest reduction is observed in the Central District: the number of private universities for the period decreased from 228 to 212, while the number of students decreased from 607,500 to 410,000, and especially in Moscow - from 419,000 to 233,000 (see Table). Despite the significant reduction in the number of private universities and the number of students, the Central District and the capital maintain their leading position. Negative changes in all quantitative indicators are shown by another leader in non-governmental education - the
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Northwest District and St. Petersburg. The lowest reduction in major quantitative indicators of the cluster occurred in the Urals and Siberian districts.
Analysis of admission of students to private universities is important for the prospects of further development of the non-governmental cluster. An analysis of the dynamics of this indicator shows a significant decrease in enrolment of students in private universities in all federal districts, which confirms the critical stage in the development. This is true especially for Central and Northwest districts, but above all, it concerns Moscow and St. Petersburg, which can be considered to be a positive trend, since the exaggerated role of the two capitals hindered the development of non-governmental higher education institutions in the regions. A slight decrease of this indicator is observed only in the Siberian Federal District. With regard to graduation from private universities, positive dynamics of this indicator are observed in almost all the federal districts, but this is more the evidence of the sector’s "past merits".
Thus, regional monitoring of the non-governmental higher education cluster (the number of private universities, the number of students in them, admission and graduation of students) by federal districts of the RF enables determining the changes that occur in its territorial organization, and demonstrates the critical stage of its development.
Translated from Russian by Znanije Central Translastions Bureas
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