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Russia's government says country has too many university graduates, promotes vocational training
๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡น Lithuania /Culture & Society

Russia's government says country has too many university graduates, promotes vocational training

From Delfi · () Lithuanian

Translated from Lithuanian, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Documents & data Context piece
  • Russia's government believes the country has too many people with higher education, creating economic problems.
  • Officials are encouraging vocational training over university degrees to address a shortage of skilled workers, particularly after the war in Ukraine.
  • The government has reduced paid university spots in fields like economics and law and increased enrollment in vocational schools.

The Russian government has stated that the country has an excess of individuals with higher education, a situation that is reportedly causing problems for the national economy. Minister Valery Falkov remarked that the decades-long emphasis on university education has pushed nearly every school graduate towards higher learning, which he deems "not good" and "not fair," asserting that "there is no need for universal higher education."

To address this imbalance, Russia is currently working to align vocational and higher education, actively promoting professional training among students. This shift comes in the wake of the war in Ukraine, which has led to a significant deficit of skilled laborers. President Vladimir Putin has called for factories to be supplied with young specialists, prompting educational institutions to increasingly steer students away from traditional 10th-grade academic tracks and towards vocational schools and colleges.

Further measures include changes to technical school admissions, allowing entry with only two exams (Russian language and mathematics), while progressing to higher grades requires four exams. The government has also eliminated nearly 50,000 paid study places in universities across fields such as economics, management, public administration, and law. This contrasts with the 3.9 million students enrolled in colleges and technical schools compared to 4.4 million in universities in 2024, according to a study by the Higher School of Economics.

The data indicates that 54% of young Russians now hold higher education degrees. Interestingly, the study also found that university graduates are more likely to work in their field of study (74.5%) compared to those with secondary education (60.7%) or vocational training (55.8%). Despite this, government data shows a trend reversal: in 2020, 43% of ninth-grade graduates chose vocational paths, a figure that rose to 63% by 2025, marking a record high.

The demand for higher education formed over decades pushes practically every school graduate into universities. This is not good, this is not fair. There is no need for universal higher education.

โ€” Valery FalkovExplaining the government's rationale for shifting focus from higher education to vocational training.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Delfi in Lithuanian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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