The Reform of Higher Education in Post-Soviet Russia: 1987-1997.

Overview & Synopsis

This paper describes higher education reform in post-Soviet Russia. Basic educational reform began in 1987 towards the end of the Soviet period, moving through two earlier stages, and is now in the third stage. The first stage was an ideological shift in the vision of education as a social institution and a profound change in the philosophy, content, and methods of education (with an emphasis on humanization). In the second stage, the old dogmatic approach to education management was phased out, and a new concept management other than direct administration was implemented. This stage decentralized and democratized higher education to allow higher education institutions more academic and financial autonomy, created non-state institutions, and put greater emphasis on human-centered studies. It also codified the legal basis of reform. The third stage is a technical one; the main objective of which is fostering and putting into effect earlier reforms. The paper also offers details on the structure and mechanisms of the development of higher education in Russia and presents a comparative analysis of higher education in Russia and in the world's leading countries. The paper concludes with a description of Chita State Technical University, an example of an institution in the third phase of the reform process. (SM)