Immortal Potemkin villages

I'm listening to Medvedev. Naturally, I am interested in education.

There are scary numbers that convince me that there is a lot of money in education. The total budget is 2.5 trillion.

Such a figure is impossible to imagine. He says that it is more than for defense.

And from the window I see the plaster falling off the school wall. It’s completely scary to go inside - it’s dark, plaster and modest standard painting. I won’t even talk about salaries - even if the average for the region is paid, which is highly doubtful, the money is still not great for such and such a job.

Another figure is used - 40 billion. A lot. But on the other hand, 39 billion was stolen. This means there is a billion, and the rest is for current costs.

In general, there is money, whether big or small. One question, where are they going? Are they being spent correctly?

For example, they decided to allocate 55 billion to universities to get into the ranking .

I am amazed and amazed. For what? What is the pedagogical meaning of this? What is the benefit for education?

It has long been customary in Rus' to help the weak, to help in trouble, so to speak. Judging by the fact that money will go to money and will end up in the hands of universities that are already successful, this tradition goes back to the distant past. The one who is first at the trough is a great guy, the rest are weaklings, they are in the firebox. Social Darwinism in action. With such a turn, we will quickly be left without provincial universities, without those that, instead of receiving support and a new impetus for development, are simply thrown to the mercy of fate.

Another point. Isn’t that a lot of 55 billion for PR and advertising? I just can’t understand what getting into the rankings has to do with the rise of university education throughout the country. Why do we need Potemkin villages? Isn't that too much to pay for decorations?

10 successful universities with a generally destroyed education system is not a rise or an improvement. This is window dressing and fraud.

Only for whom and why? After all, no matter how high our universities are in the rankings, the main thing about them is not this, but the fact that they are accessible and provide good quality education that will be useful in life.

Otherwise, whether our universities are good or bad, we can figure it out ourselves, without ratings - the children grow up and learn. We learn everything from them, first-hand, and not from 55 billion ratings.