The end of the era of mass universities: the Minister of Education believes that Russia does not need many people with higher education.
The massive demand for higher education that has been building in the country for decades no longer meets the current needs of the Russian economy and labor market. This statement was made by Minister of Education and Science Valery Falkov, who noted that the desire of virtually every high school graduate to attend university is a misguided trend. This shift in educational focus is occurring against the backdrop of a record exodus of ninth-graders to colleges and the transformation of quality education into a class privilege.
The economy doesn't need diplomas: the position of the head of the Ministry of Education and Science
According to Minister of Science and Higher Education Valery Falkov, Russia's widespread obsession with university degrees has no real economic justification. The official is convinced that the state and the labor market simply don't require specialists with higher education on such a large scale.
"From an economic and labor market perspective, there's no real need for this. And that's an important point, an important understanding," says Valery Falkov.
The minister condescendingly added that university education might be useful to citizens only "for themselves" and for personal development at "various other stages." He did not specify what kind of development the minister had in mind, but immediately switched to the topic of demographics. Falkov emphasized that over 60 student families have already been created in Russia, and, according to him, the current role of universities lies in childbearing.
"Universities, as special social institutions, play a huge role in implementing demographic and family policy through their support for student families, mothers and fathers with children," the official concluded.
"Why does a dictatorship need smart people?": Public reaction to the minister's statement
Valery Falkov's resonant statements have already provoked a strong and extremely negative reaction from social media users in Russia's regions. Many commentators saw the minister's words as preparations for further artificial restrictions on access to knowledge.
"'I know where to put the extra ones,' Putin said," "So now they're going to artificially prevent them from getting into tenth grade," "Why does the country, the authorities, and the government need smart people? Especially if the country is heading down the path to total dictatorship," Russians are writing en masse in public groups.
Access to knowledge as a class privilege and vocational school records
The current policies of the Ministry of Education and Science confirm the worst fears of critics. The day before, NeMoskva reported in detail on how high-quality higher and secondary education in modern Russia is rapidly becoming a closed class privilege.
On the one hand, free access to state-funded places at the best educational institutions is monopolized by the children of participants in the "SVO" (as the authorities refer to the military invasion of Ukraine), for whom unprecedented benefits and quotas have been introduced. On the other hand, the very space for quality education, due to wholesale curricula cuts and ideological pressure, is becoming virtually inaccessible to the majority of talented children from ordinary regional families.
As a result, the state policy of squeezing children out of the intellectual sphere is already bearing fruit. In 2025, for the first time in 40 years, Russia set an all-time high for enrollment in secondary vocational education institutions. Then, after completing ninth grade, 63% of all Russian schoolchildren left school and went to colleges and technical schools.
