Yaroslav Kuzminov: ‘Russia is on the Threshold of a Revolution in Higher Education’
At a panel session ‘Plan of Action to Improve Higher Education in Russia’ at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, the heads of leading Russian universities, HSE Rector Yaroslav Kuzminov among them, and foreign experts discussed how to bring Russian universities to a new level.
The event was organised by PwC International and moderated by their Global Director of Strategy and Leadership Development Blair Sheppard. He asked participants to discuss why Russian universities rarely get into world rankings and how government and business can help them improve their chances.
HSE Rector Yaroslav Kuzminov expounded his theory as he took the floor, that Russia is on the threshold of a revolution in higher education. ‘The Russian education market is turning global before our very eyes. The dramatic rise of English - the Vulgar Latin of the modern world – and the unified global labour market for professionals – these are the biggest changes in the coming 30-40 years,’ he said.
But ‘the real revolution in the structure of higher education,’ continued Kuzminov, ‘is the massive open on-line course MOOC. This can only be compared with the beginning of typography. Before Gutenberg’s invention, the monks, the cleverest people in monasteries, sat and copied out other people’s thoughts. When books began to be printed, clever people started to do more important things – Luther and Calvin appeared and there was a colossal revolution in the church. It would be wrong to ignore our revolution.’
The Director of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, Vladimir Mau took a rather different position. He sees the growing individualisation and internationalisation of education as one of the most important trends, but thinks that ‘it is too early for us to assess the role of on-line courses. Mau said, ‘In the film Moscow Doesn’t Believe in Tears one of the characters said that in 20 years time there will be nothing left but television, well, I’m not convinced that in 20 years time there will only be Coursera.’
Traditional forms of education will develop too and it’s important that we should have a wide choice of good quality courses, Yaroslav Kuzminov stressed. ‘None of my colleagues working on MOOC say that universities will die out or direct contact in lectures and seminars will die,' he said. ‘Research and projects around the courses continue and that space will become a university. The Coursera project is a substitute for formal courses. Will it be a market of on-line courses from the 100-150 top universities? I’m sure it won’t. We don’t have a monopoly on higher education.’
Nevertheless, Yaroslav Kuzminov said the universities find themselves in a fierce competition for places. One way for Russian universities to strengthen their position is to integrate with global research, partly by increasing their intake of non-Russian speaking students and teachers.
Evgeny Nasyrov, specially for the HSE News Service
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