#6043
[Second Issue of the Day]
#2
Problem of universities' funding remains
January 26, 2002
AP
MOSCOW - The number of students getting a higher education in Russia has nearly doubled in the past six years, but universities are struggling to keep education free and maintain modern equipment, officials said Friday.
In an interview published on St. Tatyana's Day, the holiday of Russian students, the head of Moscow State University said universities faced a great shortage of modern classroom equipment.
"We are facing a threat of catastrophically lagging behind prominent universities in terms of equipment quality," Viktor Sadovnichy told the Izvestiya newspaper.
Meanwhile, the national statistics board said Friday that the number of students in Russia is growing an average of 300,000 a year. About 4.7 million students received diplomas last year, up from 2.6 million in 1995, according to the ITAR-Tass news agency. The number of those who receive diplomas from private establishments more than quadrupled to 470,000 last year from 110,000 six years ago.
St. Tatyana became the patron saint of Russian university students after the first Russian university was proposed on the saint's day in 1755. The day was not celebrated in Soviet times, but the tradition has recently been revived.
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