MOSCOW, October 18 (Itar-Tass) —— The Russian government will initially allocate nine billion roubles to promote Russian higher education establishments in international ratings, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday.
“At the initial stage, nine billion roubles have been allocated from the federal budget, but additional sources will also be used. The better situation the global economy is in, the more funds will be spent on these purposes,” he said.
Russia has two national universities, nine federal universities, and 29 national research universities, he reminded. “Apart from that, 55 higher education establishments are using federal financing to implement strategic development programs,” he added.
“It is necessary to carefully and consistently improve the quality of higher and professional education, to help Russia’s best institutions of higher learning to integrate into the international educational space,” Medvedev stressed.
According to the prime minister, foreigners trained at Russian universities account for mere three percent of the overall number of students who study in foreign countries. “Export of educational service from Russia accounts for only one percent of the market,” he noted and stressed that these figures are far beneath the potential of Russian educational sector.