Russia's Education System: Taking on Russia's Ubiquitous Bribery
Corruption in getting a higher education
TING BECKER
10-30-2013
Extra Credit Assignment – IBUS330
The Washington Post recently featured a series of articles on corruption in Russia’s Education system. Peter Finn’s article on “Taking on Russia’s Ubiquitous Bribery,” describes the corrupt education environment at I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (SFMSMU). SFMSMU is one of the Russia’s best known medical schools. Medical students could pay professors in exchange for passing grades on exams. Bribery at SFMSU is common at the university; students even have a price chart in determining what grades they will get for the money they pay a professor.
Corruption in Russia’s education One student named Vladimir said that, “students can pay up to $400 for a good grade or $500 for an excellent grade” (Peter-Finn, 2008). Vladimir is in his third year of college and struggles at keeping up his grades for his human anatomy class. Esquire magazine published an article about the corruption in SFMSMU, in hopes to bring awareness to this ugly truth. Bribery is so common in Russian universities that it’s not exactly breaking news for Russian Media. According to the Interior Ministry’s Department for Combating Economic Crimes, the average bribe amounted to “9,000 Rubles in 2008; 23,000 Rubles in 2009; 61,000 Rubles in 2010; and 236,000 Rubles in 2011”( Alexandra Kalinina, 2013). After the article was published, SFMSMU received an order from the Ministry of Health to meet with university administrators to deal with the situation. The Ministry of Health suggested that professors involved in past bribery should reassign voluntarily, so that the school may keep their reputation. No other concrete proposal or rules were put forward at the meeting to curb bribery. According to a poll of 17,500 people by the Public Opinion Foundation, an independent group in Russia, participants identified higher education as the most corrupt sector of public life,
TING BECKER
10-30-2013
Extra Credit Assignment – IBUS330
The Washington Post recently featured a series of articles on corruption in Russia’s Education system. Peter Finn’s article on “Taking on Russia’s Ubiquitous Bribery,” describes the corrupt education environment at I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (SFMSMU). SFMSMU is one of the Russia’s best known medical schools. Medical students could pay professors in exchange for passing grades on exams. Bribery at SFMSU is common at the university; students even have a price chart in determining what grades they will get for the money they pay a professor.
Corruption in Russia’s education One student named Vladimir said that, “students can pay up to $400 for a good grade or $500 for an excellent grade” (Peter-Finn, 2008). Vladimir is in his third year of college and struggles at keeping up his grades for his human anatomy class. Esquire magazine published an article about the corruption in SFMSMU, in hopes to bring awareness to this ugly truth. Bribery is so common in Russian universities that it’s not exactly breaking news for Russian Media. According to the Interior Ministry’s Department for Combating Economic Crimes, the average bribe amounted to “9,000 Rubles in 2008; 23,000 Rubles in 2009; 61,000 Rubles in 2010; and 236,000 Rubles in 2011”( Alexandra Kalinina, 2013). After the article was published, SFMSMU received an order from the Ministry of Health to meet with university administrators to deal with the situation. The Ministry of Health suggested that professors involved in past bribery should reassign voluntarily, so that the school may keep their reputation. No other concrete proposal or rules were put forward at the meeting to curb bribery. According to a poll of 17,500 people by the Public Opinion Foundation, an independent group in Russia, participants identified higher education as the most corrupt sector of public life,