moscow

Students have launched a nationwide protest against proposals for university reform by Russia's minister of education, Alexander Tikhonov. They say the reforms could lead to a steep fall in the number of graduates and a significant increase in students' costs.

The Russian Association of University Students Trade Unions has sent an official note of protest to Tikhonov, President Boris Yeltsin and Gennagy Seleznev, the speaker of the Duma (the lower chamber of the Russian parliament).

The association has 2.6 million members, 70 per cent of Russia's student population, and plans to hold a nationwide protest that is likely to affect public opinion.

Last year the streets of the major university towns, including Moscow, St Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod and Tula, saw local demonstrations, but these were little more than the traditional protests against the usual difficulties faced by students.

This time, the students argue that the reforms threaten to undermine the whole higher education system. Their action could paralyse cities and block federal highways.

“We will try to avoid extremism, but cannot guarantee order,” said Mikhail Mirsky, deputy chairman of the student association. “Tikhonov has created a scheme that could lead to the total annihilation of Russian universities. He will only be helping students who belong to rich families. The number of students paid for out of the state budget is to be cut by 10 per cent.”

Mirsky points out that these changes are taking place as the price of accommodation is soaring, and students must for the first time pay for textbooks. “We predict that within three to four years the number of students will have fallen by 40 to 50 per cent, at a time when the government increasingly needs graduates,” he says.

Tikhonov, son of the former Soviet prime minister Nikolai Tikhonov, has said he intends to solve the growing problems of Russian higher education by “searching for resources outside the state budget”.

For example, he is suggesting that universities should be able to lease buildings to private companies. But he also wants a reduction in the number of universities, the length of courses — from six to four years — and the ratio of lecturers to students. The student association complains that such moves will inevitably lead to widespread corruption and to campuses being occupied by businessmen.