Russian Businesses are Ready to Administer and Finance Higher Schools

TheBizofKnowledge ^ | June 12, 2006 | Dr. Bill Belew

[G. Stolyarov II]

At a recent forum sponsored by the newspaper "Vedomosty" and the "Bazovy Element" company, there was unanimous agreement that Russian higher education is unable to meet the market's contemporary requirements in skilled specialists.

The proposed answer: "the quality of education could be enhanced, and it could be turned into an instrument for promoting the social status of the most gifted and industrious people," ONLY by means of cooperation between the business circles, the state, and the higher schools themselves.

It sounds to me like somebody or somebodies in Russia want to go the fopro route.

According to the Dean of Moscow State University - participation of businessmen in decision-making could help the higher schools a lot in their effort to battle corruption.

Battle corruption? But isn't that what goes wrong with fopros in the states after business gets involved?

Didn't anyone tell the Russians that?

I wonder if the big players in the US know that Russia is becoming very friendly to the idea of businesses taking a more active part in education in Russia.

Should someone tell them?

What do you think?

[G. Stolyarov II]

If even Russian government officials are suggesting business involvement with higher education, this is a positive trend; it means that many Russians have gotten over the stereotype of the "evil greedy capitalist swine" and are now ready to work with businesses and get the most out of a freer-market economy. Does Russia currently have a free market in education? Not by a long shot. Could private-sector participation improve education quality and offer students a greater range of options? Most certainly. See Dr. Belew’s blog at TheBizofKnowledge

[Thunder90]

The Chinese do this too....