KRASNOYARSK, February 18 (Itar-Tass) —— People who wish to get a higher education may not necessarily have to do so at the expense of the budget, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said.
“If a person wants to get a higher education, may not necessarily have to do so at the expense of the budget,” Siluanov said after the IX Krasnoyarsk Economic Forum on Saturday, February 18.
The minister said he meant that school graduates might also enroll in non-state higher educational institutions.
After graduation from universities, young people often get jobs on fields other than those they studied. “People often work in other fields, and the state seems to waste money. As Finance Ministry, we would suggest taking a close look at expenditures in the sector [of education] and optimising them,” Siluanov said.
He noted that Russia “has in fact a very large number” of higher educational institutions – over 1,000, of which more than 600 are stated-owned ones.
As a result, the state spends money to pay for the training of budget-financed students who often graduate being not properly prepared for work in the chosen specialty.
On the one hand, a large number of schoolchildren apply for professional higher education, thus showing a big desire for knowledge. But on the other hand, a large number of higher educational institutions produce poorly trained specialists who have to retrain after employment, be it in industry or science.
“We need to reform this system,” the minister said.