Russia’s Regional Universities Being Pushed Back into the Narrow Specialization of Soviet Times, Uzdenov Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, June 28 – Regional universities in the Russian Federation, which expanded research and the diversity of training over the last three decades, are now being forced to reorganize themselves into a system resembling that in Soviet times and train whatever the largest firms in their areas need, Tausoltan Uzdenov says.

            This outcome reflects both the opportunities students have to go outside their regions and Moscow’s policies which support research institutions and thus reduce the amount of funding available for research in regional universities, the rector of the Karachayevo-Cherkessia State University says (mk.ru/social/2023/06/28/s-kakimi-problemami-stolknulis-seychas-regionalnye-vuzy.html).

            Regional universities are thus being reduced to little more than training schools for local firms, something that may guarantee jobs for graduates but that has the effect of degrading these institutions and reducing the possibility that those trained in them will be able to contribute to modernization.

            Those who remember the situation in Soviet times, when higher educational institutions trained students how to operate one particular kind of machine, something that allowed for rapid and extensive economic growth, will recall how that same system had the effect of producing stagnation because those trained to handle one thing often couldn’t handle others.

            Unless this situation changes, Uzdenov says, there is a grave danger that something similar will occur again, further limiting Russia’s chances for economic development, however positive things may look to those who evaluate the country only on conditions within Moscow’s ring road.