On education dimension of Europeanization – theory and policy: case of Russia

For transparency and meeting the international standards, Russia established two major independent quality assurance bodies apart from the state-owned quality assurance bodies. These bodies are said to be prototypes of the already working rather awarding bodies in the European countries and are namely, The Accreditation Centre for Engineering Programmes and the Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance and Career Development (AQA). “In line with the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area, Russia is represented in the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA). The National Accreditation Agency is a member of the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE) and Central and Eastern European Networking Association (CEENET)” (Overview of the Higher Education System - Russian Federation, 2017).

Luchinskaya & Ovchynnikova (2011) argue that the Bologna process had an expansionist scope and was readily adopted by countries like Ukraine and Russia owing to their weak domestic education systems and subsequent education policy. They have highlighted how different Russian universities like International College of Economics and Finance (ICEF) and others were the few to adopt Bologna Process as policy reforms and liberalize its education domain. Labour market demand in the contemporary market is also based on international students because of which countries including Russia have harmonized their respective educational systems to compete with the international system. Russian joining of Bologna Process and implementation of EHEA facilitates the country in various formats like by enabling it for international cooperation, academic exchange and access to labour market back and forth the country.

Russia has directed its reforms from school tests to the higher education systems improving quality of the whole education. According to sociologists Russia composition as of contemporary settings involves two educational formats: (i) modernized metropolitan centers with elements and (ii) the small towns and country-sides having no capacity to adapt. This makes educational reforms critical for an unanimous progress of the country (Trenin et al., 2013). Statistically, the European Higher Education Area, Russia added around 7 million tertiary students during the academic year 2014 - 2015. Student from countries including Russia, Turkey, Germany, the United Kingdom and France all together account for 56.3% of the total tertiary student population of European Higher Education Area (Education & European Commission, 2018a).

Another aspect of adopting Bologna Process entails to its legal dimension. The European Higher Education Area countries are to adopt academic freedom in their respective national legislation. Russia in this regard has adopted the concept more comprehensively as some other countries like the Czech Republic, Georgia, Bulgaria, Slovakia, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Latvia have done. It has added the notion of right to learn and access to higher education in its national legislation (Education & European Commission, 2018a).

Implementation of the Bologna Process has also involved assessing the performance of instructors and role of teaching in academic careers that are tend to be an important components of the set which enables countries compete in the international education environment. The report publicized by European Higher Education Area in 2018 assesses this factor through a comparative analysis of countries. 60 - 70% of higher education institutes in Russia, France, Turkey and Ukraine report use of student feedback surveys as compared to Romania, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Ireland and Australia where all responding institutions carry out this activity. In its continuity, self-evaluation reports are common in countries like Kazakhstan (93% of its institutions), Romania, Ukraine, Russia, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands (where approximately 60-70% institutions do this activity) as compared to Sweden, Austria, and Ireland where the percentage remains around 25-30% (Education & European Commission, 2018a).

2.2 Analyzing the Role of International Institutions

Gounko & Smale (2007) associate reforms in the higher education system of Russia with a number of aspects like technological advancements, integrated global economic model at play and the transformation in international education structures. Europeanization has acted as a driving force in shaping the policies of many institutions such as the World Bank and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which was further felt in various projects that these institutions financed. The role of international institutions in reorganizing the education system internationally increased after the disintegration of Socialist bloc. It was when international institutions increased their areas of influence like OECD started including Eastern European countries “economies in transition” and Asian and Latin American countries termed as “dynamic economies” in its sphere.

For example, the framework of educational policies of World Bank and OECD's projects was to a fair extent in line with the European educational policies. The projects funded by these international institutions in Russia have put in considerable effects in terms of modernization, uplifting quality and flexibility of educational services, accountability in the educational sector. Similarly, engaging private institutions in mainstream higher education infrastructure has remained at the center of these reforms which was previously absent in Russia (Gounko & Smale, 2007)

To explain, how the international institutions have transformed the educational structure and outlook of Russia, the concept of isomorphism and three types of it are to be first explained which will describe how and to what extent the international institutions play to their roles. DiMaggio & Powell (1983) define isomorphism as “a constraining process that forces one unit in a population to resemble other units that face the same set of environmental conditions.” The environmental conditions, in this definition, are connected with the Europeanization effect. Furthermore, three mechanism of isomorphism are defined to analyze how the effects are generated (Gounko & Smale, 2007):

1. Coercive Isomorphism which includes organizational pressures - both formal and informal - in addition to cultural expectations. The pressures can be in the form of persuasion, economic regulations or an invitation to join a plan. Through this, the international institutions can bind the government to adopt certain technical and legal conditions and implement them for securing funding.

2. Mimetic Isomorphism is when certain organization tends to replicate the model of another successful organization which it perceives “more prestigious or innovative.”

3. Normative Isomorphism is based on professional pressures and induces organizational change. It is particularly concerned with higher education as training institutions, accreditation agencies and certification boards underline normative expectation in addition to outlining Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the universities. International institutions like OECD, World Bank, etc. then play their roles to disseminate these SOPs along with other modes of dissemination like academic journals, publications, conferences, exchange programmes, expert reports, professional associations and many other similar platforms.

The involvement of World Bank in Russian education system started during the mid-1990s. In 1997, it introduced Education Innovation Project that was designed for the country to improve selected higher education institutions and to improve social sciences quantitatively and qualitatively. World Bank also approved US$ 50 million as a loan to support Russian education sector in May 2001. This Education Reform Project coincided and supplemented the ongoing projects like those of European Union (EU), the Open Society Institute, the European Training Foundation (ETF) and the British Council. By 2003, the Bank had funded around 58 operations to transform the higher education system of Russia by investing more than US$ 13 billion (Gounko & Smale, 2007).

Another example of World Bank to induce European model of higher education in Russia is highlighted in the report, Hidden Challenges to Education Systems in Transition Economies, in which the World Bank calls the country to not solely rely on public institutions rather private institutions should be established. It states that due to macroeconomic decline, Russia's education outcomes and fairness were being compromised constantly as they fiscal constraints had serious implications on whole structure. It treated Russia alongside with other Eastern European countries equally and called for expanding its private sector, which could provide the country with sustainable solutions to improve its higher education sector. A political dimension to it entails that the World Bank ensured that the Russian policymakers would acknowledge that the “Western-type fairness, human capital and market economy” would increase the efficiency of their system of the country especially in the education, public administration, labour and finance sector. This would ultimately realign the Russian education system with those prevalent in the open societies (Berryman, 2000).

Chapter 3. Assessment of Europeanization's Effects on Russian Education System

This chapter analyzes how Russian education system practically implemented the European model of education system. It will discuss in detail how different programs were implemented in the country such as Erasmus+ program, AHELO programs etc. It also takes into account the role of international institutions in integrating the European policies of education in Russia's education system. In addition, it also looks at the impact of economic sanctions on Russia and its effects on the education sector

3.1 Evaluation of Programs

In Russia, modernization of education on the Western patterns was done in three layers. Starting in 2000, the first layer included implementation of the Unified State Examination (USE) for the objective of standardizing the admission exams of universities applicable throughout Europe and West. It was also equated with US SAT. In the second layer, GIFO (State Individual Financial Obligation) project was introduced to the Russian government in 2002 with an aim to make changes in the financing structure of higher education in the country. Consumer and market demands were kept in mind while restructuring with minimal indulgence of administrative measures as before. The third and final layer was initiated when Russia joined the Bologna Process (BP) in 2003 that is also said to be the contemporary wave of reforms. This integrated Russian higher education to that of Europe's in particular and also linked their respective education systems too (Gounko & Smale, 2007).

In 2004, Russian government made amendment to its 1992 Law on Education allowing fee-paying student's unrestricted admission to specialize in fields such as “jurisprudence, management and state and municipal administration.” This also marked a significant development in privatization of higher education in Russia (Gounko & Smale, 2007). Student mobility is also the factor that needs to be analysed when developments in Russian higher education are concerned vis-а-vis the implementation of Bologna Process. Russian share in student mobility increased considerably in the 21^st century; Russia ranked eighth in the world in international student exchanges during 2000 - 2004 which made its share equal to three per cent in total. Much of the inflow of international students originated from Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America under the banner of inter-governmental exchange programs. Majority of the students were attracted to the scientific and technical institutions in Moscow and St. Petersburg that also revived these disciplines in the country (Kell & Vogl, 2012, pp. 40-42).

Russian International Affairs Council provides statistics regarding international students in Russia. During the academic year 2015 - 2016, Russia registered 237,538 foreign students in the country in which 79 per cent of the students came from former Soviet Union countries. In addition to the former countries of Soviet Union, foreign students of Asian origin accounted for 57 per cent of the total foreign / international students in Russia in which half of the students came from China. A study publicized by Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), Russian universities recorded a tri-fold in the inflow of number of foreign students in two phases i.e. during academic years 2004 - 2005 and 2014 - 2015. In 2016, Institute of International Education's Project Atlas marked Russia on the sixth number vis-а-vis hosting foreign students behind the United States (U.S.), the United Kingdom (U.K.), China, France and Australia (Khazaryan, 2018).

Foreign exchange programs also include a sizeable proportion of students who are facilitated through the Erasmus+ program of the European Union (EU). Erasmus+ program funds educational, training, academic mobility and other programs related to youth and sport during the time period of 2014 - 2020 for its partners from both “Programme Countries” and “Partner Countries.” Russia joined the Erasmus+ program in 2014 and some time layer has substantially benefitted from it. A few Erasmus+ programs of which Russia is a part of include International Credit Mobility, Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degrees (EMJMD), Capacity-building for Higher Education (CBHE) action projects, and Jean Monnet Activities. ICM has enabled a two-way mobility for student spanning from three to twelve months and obtain credits, which are recognized at both institutions. It also provides the staff with a grant for exchange for 5 - 60 days. Under the ICM project, Erasmus+ also launched traineeship program in 2018. As a Program Country, Russia has been given nine per cent of the global budget for the ICM project. Figure 1 and Table 1 show statistics related to ICM project and how Russia has benefitted from them (DRENNAN, 2019).

Table 2 Statistics of European Masters Scholarships (Source: European Commission)

Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degrees stretch for a period of one to two years and award EU-funded scholarships to Masters Student across the globe. This covers their tuition fee, travel and grants living allowance as well. During the program, students study in at least two different European countries through which they are able to obtain a double degree or multiple degrees. Since 2014, a gradual rise has been seen in the number of selected students for Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degrees Program. The number of selected projects in 2014 were 11, 15 in 2015, 27 in 2016, 39 made it in 2017. In 2018, 44 projects out of a total 136 were selected from Russia. Besides this, for Russian students, additional scholarships are also available. As for the Erasmus Mundus scholarships granted to Russian students, Table 2 illustrates the numbers from 2014 to 2018 (DRENNAN, 2019).

In the CBHE projects, Russia was given around four per cent of the annual budget of the project. In 2018, around 103 projects were selected that involved Russia. The CBHE projects are stretched over a span of two to three years and are directed to reform and modernize higher education institutes, develop new curriculum and improve governance. Similarly, regarding the Jean Monnet Activities which develop EU studies worldwide, 23 projects were selected from Russia in 2018 (DRENNAN, 2019).

Russia has also joined the Assessment of Learning Outcomes in Higher Education (AHELO) project launched by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). AHELO aims at providing a platform for data sharing among the participating countries, their institutions and students as well. This enables them to analyze what they were able to achieve in terms of output, knowledge gained and what are the possible options they can explore at the end of their first bachelor level degrees. The data is useful for: (i) government in evaluating quality of their education and compare it with international standards; (ii) institutions for a comparative analysis of learning outcomes of domestic students with international standards and also to improve quality of teaching and (iii) students to analyze their skills domestically and their outcomes internationally (AHELO Main Study - OECD, 2015). Around 26 Russian universities (Russian Federation.Pdf, n.d.) have joined AHELO in two strands: economic and engineering. Three universities participated in both strands; seven joined only the Engineering Strand while 16 opted to participate only for the Economics Strand. The strands are basically the disciplines which are chosen by the universities to be regulated through the AHELO project for quality uplifting and other desired tweaking (Bukin et al., 2011).

Under the AHELO project, four research areas were established for comparative analysis of higher education of Russian institutions which were: (i) comparative analysis of quality of higher education in global settings: focusing on engineering and economics; (ii) assessing OECD AHELO project methodology implementation; (iii) analyzing challenges and prospects of rural school development by comparing Russia and China and (iv) a monitoring study to record data published on Russia higher education institution's website in terms of quality. For this study, the dedicated program to study the quality of education of Economics through a comparative analysis with that of Engineering education in Russia is relevant and will be discussed. Basically, the program was aimed to gauge the transformation in higher education system of Russia, particularly to detect the changes. It was also to understand the professional approach of Russian economists towards the global economy by studying their knowledge of the subject. A number of tools like expert surveys at universities, online polls among students / specialists, etc. were conducted for the analysis. A number of shortcomings were detected by the Higher School of Education which are as follows (Froumin et al., 2011):

· Higher education institutions were unprepared to integrate teaching and research which in return disabled the transfer of education into professional field;

· Faculty or teaching staff were unable to cope up with the third-generation educational standards / European standards.

· Cooperation lacked between the universities and market.

Russian Federation after participating in the AHELO program was able to achieve over 50 per cent of the student enrollment rate. The most important is that Russia was able to ensure the quality of its higher education at par with international standards, ensure the exportation of its educational services abroad and its competitiveness in terms of attracting foreign students and instructors, academics for its higher education system. Comparability of its student performance data with European countries was also a benchmark to be achieved by Russia. This has strengthened Russian position in international education space by not only diversifying its curriculum but also launching new programs that are in-demand and increasing opportunities for both students and teachers. Funding base for the aforementioned research areas under AHELO were also diversified by extending participation by other countries which accounted for linguistic and cultural diversity (Tremblay et al., 2012).

The implementation of “Analysis of possibilities of adapting Russian legislation to the regulatory framework of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development” project, OECD instruments were analyzed in order to govern the economic relations and negotiated policies in various fields. It also examined Russian compliance with OECD standards and its adoption of the rules outlined by OECD. After the analysis of around 200 regulatory documents covering 22 areas, OECD gave policy framework for areas including governance, science and technology, employment policy and many others. This enabled an expert version of policy framework for Russia to adopt various legal instruments of OECD which were in harmony with Russian legislation and norms (News -- HSE University, 2009).

Russian Ministry of Education and Science also supported the establishment of a consortium in which the country's higher education institutions participate in AHELO project. The consortium was led by the Australian Council for Education Research (ACER) and collaborated with other organizations like Council for Aid to Education (USA), National Institute for Educational Policy Research (Japan), Centre for Higher Education Policy Studies (the Netherlands), University of Florence (Italy) and other organizations as well (Froumin et al., 2011). This helped Russia have an inclusive view from different countries and adopt necessary changes.

Similar to AHELO project, Russia has actively participated in Tuning programs launched by the European Union (EU) in 2000. Tuning program assists the Bologna Process as well as the Lisbon strategy to improve the higher education sector in terms of quality enhancement, redesigning programs and evaluation as a whole. Tuning structures started in Europe for increasing compatibility, comparability and competitiveness of higher education in the region (Tuning Russia - What Is Tuning?, 2020). Russian higher education institutes participated in tuning programs in different phases. For example; Tuning Russia I started in 2006 and was conducted for a time period of one year. University of Groningen became the coordinating institution and the major subjects included in the project included Mathematic and European Studies. The core objective of this project was to assist in country to implement objectives of Bologna Process (BP) for enhancing cooperation between European and Russian universities. Other participating countries included Ireland, Spain, the United Kingdom and Netherlands. Outcomes of the program included introduction and implementation of programs such as MA Programme in European Studies, Applied Mathematics Programme in multiple institutes, Applied Mathematics and Informatics program etc. (Tuning Russia I (2006-2007) | Tuning Academy, 2020). Another tuning program implemented in Russia started in October 2010 and was stretched over a period of three years i.e. ended in October 2013. This program included “designing and developing higher education degree at all levels of education” in subject areas: Law, Education, Information and Communication Technologies, Languages, Social Work, Economics and Management, Tourism, Environmental Engineering and Ecology. Tuning centers were established in the country and teams of experts were deputed for supporting the project throughout the participating Russian universities. Tuning methodology was also focused in terms of spreading and disseminating it in the Russian academic sphere (Tuning Russia, 2020).

3.2 Asian Factor in Russian Higher Education

Russian cooperation with Asia in the educational sector has not been as much profound as that of Russia with European countries. Various factors account for the sluggish and / or lesser cooperation. To note, Russia's relations with Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) started in 2010 with the launch of ASEAN Centre in Moscow State University of International Relations despite the fact that Russia - ASEAN relations started developing in 1991. In addition, Russia collaborated with ASEAN over many diplomatic and other issues of regional peace and stability but the educational component remained overlooked since 2010. ASEAN Centre enabled student and faculty exchanges, information sharing along with mutual research between the two parties. In 2016 and 2017, the first and second respectively ASEAN - Russia University Forums were held in Vladivostok focusing on enhancement of cooperation between ASEAN and Russia in fields such as science, education, economy and culture. It was in 2018 when both parties launched an ASEAN - Russia Working Group on Education in order to strengthen bilateral cooperation on education (Sabzalieva, 2019).

This marked the intensification of educational ties between the two partners as it solidified plans in science, technology and innovation followed by the establishment of Network of ASEAN -Russia Think Tanks. However, integration between Russian universities and ASEAN University Network still lacks. It is noted that Russian emphasis towards ASEAN and other Asian countries is based on the shifts in policies of the United States and China towards such partnerships. The Vladivostok forum became beneficial for Russia and its Asian partners, as it was able to take the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) on board for cooperation on the higher education sector. APEC's various projects focus on education and development with special focus on women empowerment through provision of dedicated scholarships to them. In this regard, Russia has crafted new policies which are compatible with APEC's policies through which it provides grants to female entrepreneurs, funds women “vocational education and training in advanced areas of economy” for improving the status of women (Sabzalieva, 2019).

Russian participation in other similar international structures like the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) has remained limited. Association of Pacific Rim Universities carries a mandate of addressing the challenges and provide solutions to them in the 21^st century focusing on Asia Pacific region. It also works on enhancement of innovation and use of digital platforms for promoting education to enable transfer of research expertise in the area of public policy. With regard to Russian involvement in the APRU, only one university has joined it as a member namely Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) since 1997. However, FEFU ably managed to establish “an Arctic Hub” for engagement of Russia with existing educational structures and further enhance their scope in 2017. Like APRU, Russia also became part of Association of Asian Universities (AAU) in 2012. The primary goals of Association of Asian Universities (AAU) are to develop an “Asian educational space”, increase academic mobility, internationalize education and link all of these with cultural linkages (Sabzalieva, 2019).

Another aspect to Moscow's educational ties in Asia comprises of its relations with China. Although the two countries have supported each other on a number of issues like security issues under the umbrella of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) but there remains a divergence on economic and political factors at some points. The initiation of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) by China and its proactive exertion of soft power around the globe has abled Beijing to expand its area of influence, especially in Central Asia, which remains a point of concern of Moscow. Chinese government has increased stipends for international students to come in the country; for example, during the period 2005 - 2015, international students coming solely from Kazakhstan increased from 781 to 13,198 and to further strengthen this academic exchange, China offers 23 new academic scholarships to the country. In this regard, Russia is not able to vie Chinese efforts due to its sluggish economic development and sanctions on the country. The annexation of Crimea by Moscow has also pressed its Central Asian neighbors to shift their reliance on it and look for other options (Stronski & NG, 2018).

3.3 Sanctions Regime

Sanctions have remained a crucial factor for Russia especially after the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014 and alleged destabilization of Ukraine. European Union took these two matters seriously and imposed a number of sanctions or restrictive measures against the country. However, it is to be noted that no direct sanctions against the education sector were involved rather major restrictive measures involved: (i) economic sanctions, (ii) restrictions on economic cooperation, (iii) diplomatic restrictions, (iv) travel restrictions and asset cessation of individuals and (v) economic restrictions on Russian relations with Crimea and Sevastopol (EU Restrictive Measures in Response to the Crisis in Ukraine, 2020).

Although, as mentioned earlier, the European Union did not put any direct sanctions on the education cooperation between Russia and EU but still due to the economic restrictions, Russian education system was dented severely. Education cooperation between the two partners does not only encompass academic exchanges, curriculum upgradation, quality assurance etc. but components such as financing new projects, infrastructure development, digitization and others are also of vital importance. After the incident of Ukraine's annexation, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development's loans worth € 1.7 billion, grants of EU - Russia bilateral and regional program totaling € 450 million and European Investment Bank's loan of about € 1 billion was suspended in 2014. Collectively, Russia lost around € 3 billion of preferential loans and the loss of grants marked € 65 million. However, the grants for Russia under the umbrella of Erasmus+ program for higher education exchanges were not affected and continued as planned (Russell, 2016).

3.4 Effects of COVID-19

The contemporary scenario of the outbreak of COVID-19 virus has somehow affected the education in Russia. According to Moscow Times, around 145,268 cases of COVID-19 or corona virus have been reported in the country with death toll reaching up to 1,356 as of 4^th May 2020 (Times, 2020). Much of the cases reported in Russia originate from the Easter European countries; a global lockdown is in place because of which almost all of the academic engagements have been suspended or postponed. Majority of the foreign students have either returned to their respective countries of origin or are in isolation: the universities in Russia and around the world have shifted to online classes. As mentioned earlier, European Union helped Russia in developing its digital infrastructure which is now helping the country to continue its core academic activities.

The country has also made it compulsory for people flying from China to Moscow to provide a negative result of corona virus test at least 120 hours before departure. It is also to be noted that Russian student who were to take a course in European countries have been shifted to online platform and their fees are being refunded accordingly. In addition, lockdown measures were enacted by Russian universities until further notice and much of the internal deadlines of work submission was also extended to ease students. In addition, the deadlines for admission applications for the autumn semester are also not communicated which means that the admission process and intake of students will also be affected.

The spread of coronavirus across the globe literally paused all the aspects of people's normal life. Many people are sitting at home without work and many students are trying to study and adopt to a new way of online teaching. The outflow of the student in many foreign counties were noticed and until 7^th of May there is no any clear prediction or accurate forecast of how things would develop and when we will be back to our normal life. So that, nowadays it is important to understand the seriousness of what is happening and try to adapt to the latest lifestyle. Undoubtedly, a lot of countries that host a significant number of foreign students ( e.g. United Kingdom, Russia Federation, Italy ) try its best in offering more ways of distance learning and in motivating every student not to give up and continue working.

Conclusion

After doing literature review and taking into account various components connected with the topic, it can be outlined that the formation of European Union (EU), the subsequent growth of these countries in a supra-natural entity and later on the intensification of globalization produced a large scale and effective wave of European dominance across the world. Russia became one of the country that was the most influenced in almost all domains of governance be it economics, politics, social setup and education. After its establishment as an independent country, Russian Federation faced many challenges especially in the social structure as much of the diaspora of the country was scattered. With economic depression and technological backwardness, the country was unable to perform rather compete in the international and growing globalized world order with the only superpower, the United States, as its competitor.

These components pressed the Russian Federation to adapt with the international environment. European Union's reforms in higher education sector proved to be beneficial for Russia: the EU model of higher education a course of action for Russia and it adopted the Bologna Process. This was done as Russia realized education and technological edge to be an instrument for it as a country to compete internationally. EU countries depicted technological innovation and advancements in all walks of life based on their high quality of education and high standards in terms of professionalism. Russia opted for the same course, as technological advancements were not able without competitive education system.

It is also important to note that educational harmony with the European Union helped Russia to strengthen its relations with the European countries, have considerable political leverage and increase its economic activities with these countries so to strengthen its economy and emerge as a global political power. Russian students on one hand have been able to have access of non-traditional disciplines like social sciences, business administration and arts as compared to what the country traditionally offered. However, there remain many challenges for the country to address which include white-collar jobs for the students. In addition, due to prolonged unavailability of white-collar jobs, students have become used to the blue-collared jobs because of which the sense of professionalism and choosing an academically aligned career remains low in the Russian students.

Another component to be discussed as a constraint to the implementation and intertwining of Russian education system with European countries is language barrier. As discussed earlier, much of the Russian students are not able to communicate with others speaking different languages so much so that there is a sizeable portion of Russian students who are unable to speak fluent English. The language issue has been overlooked mostly but remains of fundamental concern as without proper communication, learning knowledge is not possible.

The issue of mobility is also of serious concern domestically and internationally. The international dimension of mobility is connected to the language issue, as communication gap is not healthy for gaining knowledge. As far as the internal mobility is concerned, my view on the allocation of jobs to far-flung areas is different as debated by scholars. Although it is tough for a young professional or fresh graduate to survive in a completely alien setting, it remains very important for his / her professional grooming. Through this, he / she can learn more about public dealing and polishing their respective skills in more challenging environment. This makes a professional more devout to their respective profession as well.

As per my review of literature, I also came across various factors for which it became integral for Russia to adopt European education policies in which the establishment of a common economic space remains one of the most relevant one. Russia remains the largest export of oil and gas to European Union (directly or indirectly) because of which their economic interests have become inter-connected. The point to make here is that without having a grasp of European education and their perception of international relations in coherence with domestic policies, Russia cannot predict future trends of the markets. Moreover, the cultural harmony of Western Russia makes it necessary for the country to adopt a European flavor of knowledge as it makes the future generation more visionary in terms of having a thorough European and Russian perspective.

As per the aforementioned discussion, it is safe to point out that such international institutions carry the European model in terms of education policies, which is replicated or transferred to the countries that get associated with these institutions one way or the other. In addition, the European element in Russian higher education policy is also analyzed from the point that the World Bank funded the higher education institutes to improve social sciences, which lacked in the Soviet educational model as it focused more on scientific knowledge. Hence, Russian education system adopted vital traits of European education model or Europeanization of Russian higher education was further strengthen with the involvement of these institutions in the country. Regarding the three layers of educational modernization drive, Russian officials state that the third layer enables the country to compete internationally in the educational services domain and attract greater resources and international students by establishing a conducive environment.

The aforementioned discussions about Russian educational ties with Asia show that Russian inclination towards Asian countries did not start right after its emergence because it was traditionally inspired by the European model of education and industrialization. We can evidently see that Moscow's engagement in the educational sphere started in the 21st century, after 2010 to be more precise. It is also worth mentioning that Russian inclination towards Asia was also lesser because of the fact that the newly independent Central Asian countries looked up to Russia for political and governance-related support due to their weak economies and directionless orientation in terms of foreign policy. In addition, Moscow's unfortunate experience in Afghanistan also drifted the country's foreign policy away from the region for a long period of time.

If a predictive analysis of the COVID-19 is done, it is safe to say that the academic mobility back and forth the country will be adversely affected keeping in view varying policies of different countries. Many of the countries might not allow international students to come back to resume their studies or start their new academic year until or unless the situation is under control and things settle down well. In addition, it is in the best interest of Russia to adopt and implement strict measures in terms of academic mobility - be it of students or teachers - so that the public remains safe. For this, it can make use of the digital infrastructure at hand to continue the core processes and in few other steps, it can merge other academic activities with the digital infrastructure, which will help in setting up a new space for conducting classes, assessment tests etc.

Recommendations

Following are the recommendations that can be adopted in Russian higher education policies:

· Russia should explore all available options in terms of cooperating with other countries to refine and modernize its existing educational policies and practices.

· The country should incorporate more flexible disciplines and curriculum so that the students are able to have a widespread understanding of the subjects.

· Russia should invest in its educational sector for financing exchange programs and intake of international students, which would enable the country to increase its soft power and develop ties in countries, e.g. extend the list of hosting institutions under Erasmus and other exchange programs. For doing so, Moscow can engage South Asian countries.

· Quality of Russian education needs to be improved largely. None of the Russian universities is included in the list of top 100 institutions worldwide, which shows that even after 30 years of reform, the country is not able to reach a global competitive standard. In my point of view, in order to improve the existing system and reach the global standards (presumably by mimicking European education systems) it is vital to state where and how Russian authorities will get the information and hands-on examples in the first place.

· Unlike European or Western countries, Russia lacks behind in internationalizing its education and / or using media to reach out to international students. The country provides generous funding for foreign students to study in disciplines like medicine, engineering, etc. which majority of the foreign students are not aware of. Hence, the country should work on improving its connections and dissemination of information.

· It is also imperative for the country to invest in its teaching staff: regular capacity building and refresher courses need to be added in the training and development branch for them. This would enable the teaching staff to be able to use technology for their benefit and learn more about the emerging perspectives and literature in their areas of specialization. Moreover, it is important to understand that raising the level of teaching the foreign languages will then provide more opportunities for students to enter exchange programs etc.

· China and India have become Russian competitors in education both regionally and internationally. Both countries produce more graduates annually that means they capture more market than Russia. Similarly, more Indian and Chinese students can be accepted by top European and American universities as compared to Russian. By this, it is imperative for Russia to increase its presence by improving its education right from a primary unit.

· Programs such as AHELO and Tuning must continue to be used by the country for benefitting itself because these programs carry out dedicated and focused reforms in different subject areas, which enables a strong growth in them. In addition, the coordinating institutions are able to learn from the expertise of the European counter-parts.

education bologna institution european

Bibliography

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