The State Duma explained the main purpose of the bill on the quality of education

The main purpose of the draft law on the regulation of admission to paid education at universities, which is being considered in the State Duma, is to synchronize the education system and the demands of the labor market. This was announced to Izvestia on May 14 by Ekaterina Kharchenko, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Science and Higher Education.

"The main purpose of the bill is to synchronize the education system with the current and projected structure of demand in the labor market," she stressed.

Kharchenko clarified that the bill provides for a balanced approach to admission to universities on a commercial basis, taking into account the specific requests of the regions. According to her, the criteria system will be coordinated with regional authorities and relevant ministries, and initial proposals will be formed by higher education institutions.

"The law was adopted conceptually in the first reading, and amendments will be introduced in the second reading to make the mechanisms of its implementation more transparent and clear to the expert community. Today, at a meeting of the relevant committee, I strongly recommended that the Ministry of Science and Higher Education avoid rhetoric about the "overproduction" of economists and lawyers," she added.

According to Kharchenko, the bill is also aimed at working with Rosobrnadzor to combat universities that artificially underestimate the passing grade and tuition fees. According to her, 347 State Duma deputies, including 248 members of the United Russia faction, became co-authors of the initiative..

"I would like to emphasize once again that the changes are aimed at improving the quality of higher education, and not at limiting paid admission. This is the only way we can train in—demand specialists and protect applicants from unscrupulous educational organizations," concluded the Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Science and Higher Education.

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The State Duma plans to adopt the bill in the first reading in May, and in the final, third reading before the end of the spring session, which this year will last until August 3.