Russian and Belarusian educational organizations are excluded from the Bologna process against the background of the majority of rectors’ support for the war in Ukraine. This was announced by the Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Russia Dmitry Afanasyev said. According to the official, the corresponding decision was announced on April 11.
Afanasyev noted that the declaration was not a contract that needed to be broken. “I would say that it was the Bologna system that came out of us and not us from it,” the official said.
Russia has been participating in the Bologna Process since 2003. It provides for a two-level education system: bachelor’s and master’s degrees.
The expediency of Russia’s participation in the Bologna process has already been discussed against the background of deteriorating relations with Western countries, but the discussion has significantly escalated after the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine.
On May 24, the Minister of Science and Higher Education Valery Falkov said that Russia plans to abandon the Bologna education system and develop its own.
On June 1, the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia also recommended universities not to participate in the Erasmus+ student exchange program. This program funded trips of Russian students to study in Europe and international exchanges. Since 2014, more than 13.2 thousand students from Russia have taken part in it.
