Russian education system is proposed to be reformed for 8 trillion rubles

UFA, 5 April 2018. /Bashinform News Agency, Alfiya Agliullina/. The Higher School of Economics and the Center for Strategic Research Alexei Kudrin presented a draft reform of Russian education with a potential cost of up to 8 trillion rubles. Proposals are contained in the report "12 Solutions for New Education Approach", their training was led by the HSE Rector Yaroslav Kuzminov and the scientific director of the Institute of Higher School of Economics, RBC reports.

President Vladimir Putin promised to modernize education system in his Address to the parliament on March 1.

Experts propose to create a system for supporting early development for all children from birth to three years, to introduce in schools educational complexes based on artificial intelligence and to build 40 new training centers based on the "Sirius" model. Full implementation of initiatives will lead to the fact that the total expenditure of the budget system on education will reach 4.8% of GDP by 2024, compared with 3.5% of GDP in 2017. Then Russia will spend on education about the same funds as the average OECD countries, experts say.

The full implementation of the proposals of the HSE and the CSR will require additional budgetary financing at the level of 4.6 trillion rubles total for six years. Taking into account extra-budgetary investments (the authors propose, for example, public-private partnerships in the construction of schools), the amount increases to 8.3 trillion rubles, according to the report. RBC sent a request to the Ministry of Education and Science to evaluate the proposals of the Higher School of Economics and the Center for Strategic Research.