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G8 participants signed up to the Russian concept of education development
The leaders of the G8 countries listened to Russia’s proposals on the concept of the development of education throughout the world. This is the main result of the negotiations on access to education that took place within the framework of the G8 summit that ended in St. Petersburg. The G8 heads of state confirmed their intention to develop the Bologna process and promote “increased mobility of students, teachers and researchers.” They spoke out for increasing the economic and scientific autonomy of universities, and agreed that something more should be expected from modern higher education than educational and research activities. Namely, the creation of experimental innovative developments and their implementation in production. “We will collaborate to create research networks involving higher education institutions, research centers and businesses, and benefit from the latest technologies they develop. We will encourage collaboration between universities and industry,” the summit said in a statement.The Russian side considers agreements on “compliance of qualification requirements for vocational education in different countries” to be one of the most important achievements of the negotiations. “We are not talking about standardization of programs or mutual recognition of diplomas. We are talking about achieving transparency in education,” explained Advisor to the Minister of Education and Science Andrei Volkov, who led the expert group that prepared materials on educational topics for heads of state, to Vremya Novostey. — For example, it is necessary to officially recognize that an engineer in China and Russia has such and such knowledge, an engineer in the United States of America has slightly different competencies. It is very important for the international labor market to understand who is training whom.”
Discussing the problems of educating the younger generation around the world, the heads of state of the G8, in fact, signed up to the main provisions of the Russian national project “Education” and the Federal Target Program for the Development of Education until 2010. The head of the working group that prepared the final educational declaration considers this recognition of the merits of our country. “From a formal point of view, the document was accepted in the form in which it was prepared by the Russian side,” Mr. Volkov clarified.
On the other hand, Russia, having decided to modernize the educational sector, has taken a serious step forward along the path followed by the largest industrial powers. “It is very important that we have launched projects with innovative universities and business schools, thereby we are catching up with the world,” said the adviser to the Minister of Education. — The world, of course, is moving on in the meantime, but Russia has already returned to big politics, including educational policy. And it’s very important for us now not to relax and slow down.”
Domestic officials are aware that the St. Petersburg agreements will not be implemented instantly. Speaking at a press conference in the northern capital the day before, Minister of Education and Science Andrei Fursenko admitted that adopted declarations are not always followed by immediate concrete steps. However, according to him, the role of the summit is different - to set a strategic direction and make a powerful political message on behalf of state leaders to society.