Russia presses ahead with thousands of science job cuts

Rusia/Julio de 2017/Fuente: The World University Ranking

Resumen:  El gobierno de Rusia anunció el año pasado planes para despedir a 8.300 trabajadores científicos de instituciones de educación superior, pero fueron puestos en suspenso en medio de señales de una posible recuperación económica. Sin embargo, después de que este esperado crecimiento no se materializara, los recortes seguirán adelante, según los informes. Los ahorros también permitirán el desguace del 40 por ciento de los lugares estudiantiles financiados por el Estado en las universidades rusas, y la proporción del presupuesto del país dedicada a la educación caerá del 2,75 por ciento en 2015 al 2,45 por ciento en 2020.

Russia is pushing ahead with plans to axe thousands of science jobs in the country’s universities.

Plans to fire 8,300 scientific workers based in higher education institutions were announced by Russia’s government last year, but were then put on hold amid signs of a possible economic recovery.

However, after this hoped-for growth failed to materialise, the cuts will now go ahead, according to reports.

The savings will also see 40 per cent of state-funded student places in Russian universities scrapped, and the proportion of the country’s budget spent on education fall from 2.75 per cent in 2015 to 2.45 per cent in 2020.

Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian prime minister, said that it was to “optimise spending allocated for higher education by redistributing funds to the most important areas and by reducing inefficiency”.

But he said that the cuts should not have an impact on programmes that are judged to be “socially significant” and, as such, many leading institutions will be spared.

These will see their funding increase by 17 billion rubles (£218 million). As a result, other institutions, including the Russian Academy of Sciences, will be particularly badly affected.

Fuente: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/russia-presses-ahead-thousands-science-job-cuts#survey-answer