Despite the propaganda, the interest of Ukrainian applicants to education in Russia is growing
In 2017, the number of young Ukrainians wishing to obtain higher education in Russia increased by more than a third compared to the previous year, сообщают “Izvestia”, citing statistics provided by the Ministry of Education and Rossotrudnichestvo, through which the corresponding quotas are allocated.
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and return home. Experts believe: despite the continuously spreading anti-Russian propaganda, young people are not ready to stop contacts with Russia, and many even connect their future with it.
Thus, for the 2017/18 academic year, 474 quotas were allocated for citizens of Ukraine for budget places in Russian universities through Rossotrudnichestvo, but next year this figure may be increased by another 50 places, since the number of applicants is almost three times higher than the supply. If at the moment 1328 young Ukrainians have already submitted applications for reserved places, then last year the number of people seeking knowledge in Russia was 889 people.
According to Rossotrudnichestvo, the most popular areas among Ukrainian applicants last year were applied mathematics and physics, medical science and linguistics. And in 2017 - medical practice, jurisprudence and international relations. The most popular universities in the last two years were St. Petersburg State University, RUDN University, Southern Federal University (SFU), Belgorod State National Research University, and the Higher School of Economics.
“It would seem that when the authorities in Kyiv purposefully form a negative image of Russia in Ukrainian society, young people, in theory, should turn away. However, as statistics show, interest in Russian education not only does not fall, but, on the contrary, is growing. It is curious that most of the Ukrainians who entered Russian universities do not return to their homeland after defending their diploma,” a newspaper interlocutor familiar with the selection process of Ukrainian applicants commented on the situation.
In turn, a source in Russian diplomatic circles explained that after 2014, the percentage of Ukrainian students who, after graduating from Russian universities, prefer not to return to Ukraine, but to look for work in Russia, has increased. According to him, back in 2013, as a rule, more than 25% of graduates returned to their homeland, but now this figure has dropped to 10–15%.
At the same time, the Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, Konstantin Kosachev, drew attention to the fact that Ukrainian society is split, including in relation to Russia.
“Russophobia is actively instilled by the authorities, but these figures once again confirm that it does not affect everyone. There are still many people in Ukraine who consider Russia a desirable partner. Therefore, for me, this trend confirms that Ukraine is far from being 100% anti-Russian. And the second reason: Russian education is of the highest quality and competitive. For many Ukrainians, a diploma from a Russian university is a real tool for moving forward, determining their destiny according to the maximum, and not the minimum, possible scenario,” Kosachev emphasized.
According to Leonid Kalashnikov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, budget quotas for Ukrainians should be increased.
“Increasing quotas is a completely correct policy. We must help Ukrainians who want to apply for government-funded places in Russia. They come here not only because they are drawn to Russia, but also because in Ukraine the Russian language is actually banned for official use, and even more so for studying in universities. What else should people who have studied Russian all their lives do?” Kalashnikov said.
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