| After reviewing the issue on the principles
for forming the federal budget for 2003 with regards to the financing
of education expenditures, the Committee thinks that when drafting
the federal law "On Federal Budget for 2003" the Government
of the Russian Federation should make development of education
a priority issue and consider the provisions aimed at developing
the education sector contained in the Address of the President
of the Russian Federation to the Federal Assembly of the Russian
Federation, materials of the discussion "Modern Education
Policy of Russia" from the meeting of the State Council of
the Russian Federation, the Concept of Modernisation of Education
in Russia for the Period Until 2010 and the National Education
Doctrine.
The Committee notes the recent positive trend towards annual
growth of education expenditures in the federal budget, which
made it possible to resolve a number of principle issues for financing
education, including the waiving of creditor indebtedness of educational
institutions for payments for communal services. The budget for
2002 increased expenditures on the computerisation of schools
and purchase of equipment, the financing of a number of special
federal programmes ("The Federal Programme for Education
Development", "Development of a Single Educational Information
Environment", "Children-Orphans", etc.)
The Committee notes the efficient work of the Government of the
Russian Federation, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry
of Finance of the Russian Federation in connection with full implementation
of the budget in January-February 2002 in accordance with planned
goals.
At the same time the Government of the Russian Federation failed
to fully finance the expenditures required for the development
and modernisation of Russian education; the budget for 2002 did
not allot sufficient funds for aid to the subjects of the Russian
Federation regarding an increase in salaries, did not envisage
expenditures for raising stipends and social support for students;
allocated insufficient funds for the development of material and
technical base of educational institutions.
In view of the aforementioned facts, the Committee decided:
1. To propose that when drafting the state budget
for 2003 the Russian Government and the State Duma Budget and
Tax Committee proceed by financing education expenditures on the
basis of faster expenditure growth rates on high-priority
areas of education development, including mandatory preservation
of the level of basic financing of education that has already
been attained, and ensuring expenditure growth on all
issues of budget and economic classification, exceeding the forecast
level inflation.
2. Regarding faster expenditure growth rates on high-priority
areas of educational development, to consider it necessary to
pool the resources of the budget for 2003 on the comprehensive
development of the infrastructure of educational institutions,
material incentives for highly-qualified teaching personnel, and
on increasing the accessibility of professional education.
2.1. To increase the accessibility of education,
to envisage that the following be done:
- increase stipends by at least 100%, including a simultaneous
change in regulations on stipends to increase the targeted nature
of social stipends, allotting an additional 6.6 bln roubles
for this goal;
- increase expenditures on the repair and maintenance of student
dormitories.
2.2. To provide material support for highly-qualified
teaching personnel and encourage innovation by teachers, the budget
for 2003 should stipulate the following:
- increase by 400% additional payments for academic degrees
of "candidate of science" and "doctor of science",
allotting to this goal an additional 4.7 bln roubles;
- set additional bonuses for masters of professional education
and directors of educational institutions of primary and secondary
professional education, amounting to 1,000 roubles per month,
allotting to this goal an additional 1.4 bln roubles;
- set provisions for faster wage growth rates to workers in
education participating in innovative and experimental work
to modernise education, by increasing the funds for the Federal
Programme for the Development of Education by 0.4 bln roubles.
2.3. To further develop the infrastructure of
educational institutions and informational and methodological
support for education, the budget for 2003 should envisage the
following:
- increase expenditures for purchasing educational laboratory
equipment to 7.2 bln roubles;
- increase expenditures on capital and current repairs of educational-laboratory
and educational-production objects to 8.6 bln roubles;
- increase expenditures for replenishing library stock (including
those on electronic media) to 1.6 bln roubles;
- allot additional funds amounting to 1.0 bln roubles for the
retraining and professional development of professors and teachers
of higher educational institutions.
3. Regarding the provision of basic
financing for education, to consider the following necessary measures:
- raise average wages for workers in education (from January
1, 2003) by 20%, allotting an additional 6.9 bln roubles for
this;
- increase expenditures on utilities by 46% (including inflation
and tariff increases) considering the prospects of co-financing
these expenditures from the extra-budgetary funds of educational
institutions;
- increase by 5.0 bln roubles expenditures on providing meals
for primary school pupils, those on state support, and orphans
studying in professional education institutions;
- finance expenditure on the maintenance of recreation facilities
for educational institutions.
Alexander Shishlov
Chairman of the Committee
See also:
Reform
in Education
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