Matviyenko calls for review of university degree subjects

Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko urged Education and Science Minister Valery Falkov on October 14 to replace outdated university subjects with modern fields of study.

Speaking in the upper house of parliament, she called for programmes covering new technologies, including artificial intelligence. She also questioned whether advertising and public relations required a separate university degree.

Matviyenko said public and municipal administration courses should be refocused on further training for people already working in local government. She claimed that students entering the field straight from school did not go on to municipal jobs. The report supplied no data or methodology supporting that assessment.

She separately called for a review of correspondence education, questioning whether it could produce qualified engineers and suggesting that the format might be better suited to professional development.

Her remarks were proposals to reconsider the content and organisation of teaching. The report did not announce a decision to close the subjects she mentioned or abolish correspondence education.