Private education development strategy to be developed in Russia

The Association of Non-Governmental Education has launched the development of the first comprehensive strategy for the development of private education in the country. Representatives of the industry told Izvestia about this on December 24.

It is planned that the strategy will cover all levels of education: from pre-school and secondary to higher and additional education. Its goal is to provide the state and society with an understandable tool for identifying reliable partners, develop internal rules of the game for the sector and improve the quality of educational services through the introduction of self—regulation, equalization of conditions for private and public organizations and the development of public-private partnerships.

One of the key areas of the strategy will be the development of self-regulation tools. The solutions include the creation of a system of professional and public quality assessment by the Association with the participation of the state, as well as the development and adoption of internal standards that establish stricter requirements than stipulated by state standards. These standards are designed to improve the overall quality level and serve as a tool to counter unfair practices in the market.

"The key challenge for the development of non—governmental education is the persistent distrust of the quality of services on the part of society, consumers and the regulator. It is caused by the heterogeneity of the sector, the lack of uniform standards exceeding mandatory government requirements, and the disunity of players. The solution lies in consolidation, self—regulation, and the development of a common strategy as a roadmap for survival and leadership. The sector has huge potential. However, the "gray area" of operators operating on the edge of regulatory requirements creates a negative stereotype for the entire field. Combating this is a joint task of the state and the professional community, but it requires not only control from above, but also horizontal mechanisms for self—purification of the professional community," said Artem Vasiliev, Chairman of the Board of the Association of Non—Governmental Education, Rector of Synergy University.

Another area is the alignment of business conditions for private and public educational organizations. It provides for the elimination of existing legal inequalities, which persist in practice despite constitutional guarantees.

The third area is the development of public-private partnership instruments aimed at attracting investments in the development of educational infrastructure. Despite some successful examples, there are no systematic and legally regulated PPP mechanisms in the Russian education sector. Their creation will reduce the burden on the budget.

Special attention at the round table was paid to the protection of business and its interaction with the private education sector.

"The strategy is necessary, first of all, to protect the rights of owners of private education organizations. Secondly, it is important for employers who are comfortable working with the private sector because of its focus on the practical application of knowledge and focus on business results. In addition, an important area is the development of public-private partnership in the field of education, which is beneficial to both business and the state," said Eduard Omarov, First Vice President of Opora Russia.

Work on the strategy will continue. The document is planned to be finalized and brought to further stages of discussion with government agencies for subsequent approval.

The private education market in Russia covers more than 4 million people and is estimated at 700 billion rubles per year. The sector is showing steady development: in five years, the number of private universities has increased 1.6 times, and in the secondary vocational education system — by more than 80%.

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