News
Vladimir Bublik, the rector of the Ural State Law University, exposed the drawbacks of foreign education, including the impact of “their ideology” and liberal values on children. He added, however, that his daughter plans to study in Europe. These comments were made in an interview to 66.ru focusing on Russia’s exclusion from the Bologna education system and the signing of an agreement to create a consortium named European and Asian Law University.
According to Bublik, Russia’s withdrawal from the Bologna Process will not change anything, and the distinction between bachelor's and master's courses will be retained for a while. The problems resulting from denouncing the Bologna declaration are purely technical, the rector says, but certain elements of the system must be kept. “I hope that rectors, who are immediately impacted by the decision, will have a say in this. From our perspective, some elements of the Bologna system should remain in place,” said Bublik. He pointed out the need to fulfill obligations to current undergraduate students and let them complete their courses.
Bublik also explained that the process will be gradual and that the technical solution will present itself, although “there are more important considerations”. “What kind of considerations?” the reporter asked, and the rector replied:
“Most importantly, our children will get the opportunity to grow into normal people, normal citizens. Because the Russian Orthodox faith, Islam, and our natural values serve as a framework that guarantees healthy development for our children.
Parents are committed to raising their children to be normal. The impact of foreign ideology on students returning home from overseas is evident. Both in terms of sexuality and liberal values, they are different. As a father, I wouldn’t want my daughter (who plans to study art and will go to Europe because that's where art and architecture are) to return a different person who professes different values.
Our consortium will make sure it doesn't happen because Russia and Muslim states are probably among the few places where people grow up normal, without all those... You know what I mean.”
In conclusion, he added that the country will fight for its children: “We will fight for our children. We will not give them up to that European cloaca that exists out there, drawing us in... We will resist it and will not let it have our children.”
Previously, all Russian educational institutions had been excluded from the Bologna Process. Dmitry Afanasiev, Deputy Minister for Education and Science, pointed out this discrepancy: “The Bologna system walked out on us, and not the other way around.” He specified that the Bologna group had announced the decision to cease the representation of Russia and Belarus in all Bologna Process organizations as early as on April 11. “Essentially, once our rectors, heads of educational institutions, signed the address of the Russian Rectors’ Union in support of the President's special operation, all of Russia's educational organizations were therefore expelled from the Bologna Process,” the deputy minister explained.
Russia joined the Bologna Process, which provides for a combination of four-year bachelor's and two-year master's courses as a higher education standard, in 2003. Since then, many of the country’s universities have transitioned to a two-tier education system, facilitating their students’ transfer to foreign universities and further studies abroad.
Since Russia started the war in Ukraine, Russian politicians have been calling for a withdrawal from the Bologna system more and more often. Initiatives to abandon the process have been proposed by Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev, State Duma vice speaker Petr Tolstoy, First Deputy Chairman of the Chamber Committee on Science and Higher Education Oleg Smolin, former minister of education and president of the Russian Academy of Education (RAO) Olga Vasilieva, MSU rector Viktor Sadovnichiy, and Russian Lawyers’ Association chairman Sergey Stepashin.