Russia mulls short-term courses for foreigners

Russia, which imparts free education to all its citizens, is set to introduce short-term courses for foreign students next year in the field of IT, business management, engineering and medicine.

The country, which earns about $40 million per annum from foreign students, is exploring courses for executives for six months’ duration, according to Sayed Kamruzzaman, deputy dean for Foreign Students, Tver State Medical Academy. “The Russian education ministry is in discussion to launch short-term courses in the field of medicine, IT, business management and engineering, hugely popular with the foreign students. These courses will be provided by the 200 universities in Russia, 100 per cent state-owned. The Russian government does not generate much revenues from education as the localites are given free education. The foreign students contribute to around $40 million per annum,” says Kamruzzaman.

Russia sees 2,000 foreign students enroll for its various courses every year. “We are no where close to the number of students that Australia, the US or UK attract every year. But the quality of education attracts a chunk of foreign students from China, India, Greece and Poland. The Russian government has allotted 25 per cent of the total seats to foreign students and we do not plan to raise the number of seats at present. The cost of higher education in Russia is much cheaper than in the countries such as the USA, the UK and the medical science course offered by us is hugely popular among Indian students,” says Kamruzzaman.

The Russian centre of Science and Culture (cultural dept. of Russian Embassy) jointly with the Russian Centre of International Education (RCIE) is organising an educational fair ‘Welcome to Study in Russia’ across India, with the participation of representatives from the top Russian universities. Currently, only in Tver State Medical Academy, more than 800 students from India have enrolled for various courses.