Russia Backs Sending Top Students Abroad With a Catch 167
First time accepted submitter Clark Schultz writes "Vladimir Putin plans to send the country's top domestic students abroad in an effort to prepare engineers, doctors, and scientists with the most modern education. The initiative comes with a catch: Students must return to Mother Russia to work. Though critics say that the students may be tempted to stay abroad after receiving their advanced degrees, Putin is confident they will be properly motivated to keep up their end of the bargain. As one advocate notes, the 'brilliant' practice of educating Russians at top global universities dates back to the times of Peter the Great."
Once they come back (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:This is how it *should* work. (Score:5, Interesting)
It worked for Meiji Japan. They sent off boatloads of students to foreign universities, brought in foreign experts and jumpstarted Japan's industrialization (which was probably the most rapid industrialization in history). In the mid-19th century, Japan was still to a large extent a late Feudal state. By the beginning of the 20th century, it kicked the crap out of the Russians and by WWI was considered a Great Power.
Re:The actual catch is ... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Seems reasonable (Score:5, Interesting)
They could probably just levy the fines as a tax, and have them extradited for tax evasion through existing tax treaties.
The US already does something similar, and there is a large body of signing countries to this convention. If you live abroad you still have to pay US taxes even if you never make use of any US services. If you renounce your citizenship, you have to pay the US government a large tax as if you have sold every single asset that you presently own (so basically 30% of everything you have) plus some other fees and levies - if you don't do this, then the US will have you extradited and jailed. (This is why those complaining about those ex-patriots who renounced their citizenship to avoid future taxation have unfounded complaints - they already had to pay more than their pre-existing dues just to renounce their citizenship; they just want to avoid paying future taxes to a government that doesn't provide any services to them whatsoever.)
Re:Assuming that there will be jobs for them ... (Score:2, Interesting)
Russia's economy has been booming for years. There is massive foreign investment in Russian industry. Their energy sector is straight up roaring. Russia had fully recovered from the 2008 'crisis' by mid-2010 and kept growing from there. Russia is a creditor nation now, buying the public debt of declining nations, such as the US.
Russian unemployment is about 6%. And that's a legitimate number as well; not like US unemployment figures that are mostly the result of shrinking the size of the workforce to polish the turd that is the US economy.
As far as employment goes it's a good time to be young in Russia. Looking in from the outside our anti-anything-bigger-than-a-hobby-farm types are hate'n on Russia [environmen...affiti.com], wishing they could shut it down, but they'll just have to wait few decades till the employed and prosperous get comfortable enough for the hate mongering to take hold and pull up the ladder on their youth, as we have.
"confident they will be properly motivated" (Score:2, Interesting)
Perhaps Putin will find new ways to motivate them.
Re:Is education really the problem in Russia? (Score:3, Interesting)
Gotta agree, to a large extent, with the AC above. US universities often seem to be a much more serious proposition at the grad level than at the undergrad level, although this can vary quite a bit from university to another, and from one concentration/major to another. US universities' reputations have more to do with their ability to provide a heavy duty grad (i.e. professionalizing) education and with their research output than they do with their undergrad offerings (which is often a hand-holding jog, buffeted by rampant grade inflation (lest someone not get his tenure due to somebody being upset about their grade)). Having spoken to people from Eastern Europe, I get the impression that their schools have less tolerance for sub-par performance and less grade inflation, and come exam time, you are expected to know your stuff exceptionally well.
However, as mentioned elsewhere in this thread, E. European professors tend to be underpaid (something they share with their colleagues in other countries, but it's obviously quite a bit less harsh here), which results in high levels of bribery - you can either really earn your diploma, or you can buy your diploma. Amazingly, even med schools and engineering schools seem to be susceptible to this problem.