Izvestia: “University management salaries to be averaged”
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is unhappy that the salaries of a university's top management exceed the average salary of its teaching staff tenfold.
A few days before the beginning of the new academic year, Vladimir Putin met with members of the Russian Rectors' Union. After the prime minister recognized the achievements of the higher education institutions, he sharply changed his tone and expressed his discontent with the problems that arose during this year's admissions campaign. Vladimir Putin did not mention the recent scandal at Russia's Second State Medical University that admitted a large number of phantom students (for a state-subsidesed department), but rather focused on the higher education institutions that technically have not violated the law.
Vladimir Putin stated that at seven Russian universities the average passing grade according to the Unified State Exam's results was lower than 50. "What does this mean? We all know what this means. This means, that the grade is a weak "3" under the old Soviet system. Is this selectivity? Of course, not," stated the prime minister.
This is the way a university's management attempts to hang on to state funding. And while seven universities managed to admit a sufficient number of state-funded students, there are several dozen universities which fell short of the number of vacancy seeking candidates. Other higher education institutions attracted students by setting lower tuition fees for self-paying students than the state financing standards allow.
"This discredits the higher educational system, directly violates the rights of young people to acquire professional knowledge, and makes them less competitive on the labour market. Such universities must gradually get off the stage," said the prime minister. Vladimir Putin proposed to objectively assess the quality of education and introduce a university rating system. Lomonosov University rector, Viktor Sadovnichy, in turn, bemoaned the fact that Russia's universities are not near the top of the world's rating system.
"I enquired, and have been told that if we had 2 billion euros, we could hope to be placed in the top 20. This does not mean that we are giving up, but it may be better to create a national rating system to motivate universities strive to improve," said Viktor Sadovnichy.
Meanwhile, Russia's universities cannot even dream of reaching the 2 billion euro mark. The average pay at a Russian university is currently 21,700 roubles, which is slightly below the national average for all industries. The prime minister urged the rectors to increase teacher salaries. "The salaries of a university's top management often exceed the average salary of its teaching staff by eight or nine times, and with bonuses factored in, it can be as much as 15 times higher," stated Vladimir Putin and looked at some of the rectors, who rushed to hide their expensive watches under their shirts' sleeves. "I'm not saying that top executives should not be well-paid. But the principles used in establishing payroll schedules ought to be justified and transparent to all employees. Otherwise it is difficult to create an appropriate working environment."
Vladimir Putin instructed the Ministry of Education and Science to look into controlling the rectors' appetites when it comes to setting their own salaries.
Education Minister Andrei Fursenko told Izvestia that the prime minister's criticism will resonate among the higher education institutions who admit students with lower than average passing grades.
"Next year the number of state-funded students will be based on admissions this year," clarified Andrei Fursenko. "We will establish a procedure, and notify everyone in advance. We hope that some of these universities will consider merging with more established universities or consider closing departments that fall short of the number of students."
The Ministry of Education and Science will have to look for creative ways to limit rector salaries. Firstly, rectors are allowed to set their own salary at four times the average salary. In accordance with State regulations, they receive supplementary state allowances for security access and working conditions, etc. In addition, they receive 0.7% of the general salary fund. That means that the more people who are employed by a university, the larger the general fund, and the higher the rector's salary.
"We plan to lower this ratio and tie a rector's salary directly to the average salary at a given institution," Andrei Fursenko told Izvestia. "A rector's pay at a university where staff salaries are lower than the average in their region should not be too high."
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Vladimir Putin proposed objectively assessing the quality of education and the introduction of a university rating system.
Anastasia Novikova
