The Rybakov Prize in Education (News and Research 181)
The million-dollar Rybakov Prize went to Abdulzhelil Abdulkerimov from Dagestan, Russia The Luminary project is trying to reduce the education gap between urban and rural areas. The Rybakov Fund awarded the Grand Prix and the $1 million prize to the philanthropist of the Luminary educational center project in Dagestan, Abdulzhelil Abdulkerimov. His father, Mahmud Adbulkerimov, is the president of the Enlightenment charity foundation, which created the project. Education centers are built in rural areas. The project intends to build education centers in all regions of Dagestan and in other regions in order to create a single information and educational space.
In addition, the Rybakov Fund awarded two more prizes of $ 100,000 each. One of the winners was Olga Zubkova, president of the Education Notebook Association of Friendship. It creates spaces for children with disabilities to work together with their healthy peers. The second award was taken by Boris Bulayev from the United States, co-founder and executive director of the non-profit public Educate. It provides knowledge, skills and competencies for working in the field of economics for young people in Africa.
Igor Rybakov promised to transfer half of his fortune to the development of education in Russia and the world: at least $100 million over 10 years.
Meet The Rybakov Prize Education Entrepreneur Finalists
How Billionaire Entrepreneurs Igor And Ekaterina Rybakov Built The ‘Nobel Prize For Education’
Workshop Skills and Returns to Education, 29 January 2020, World Bank, Moscow, Russia It was opened by Christopher Miller (World Bank), with remarks from Vladimir Gimpelson (Higher School of Economics (HSE)) and Isak Froumin (HSE). The event was moderated by Tigran Shmis (World Bank). There were 52 participants from various Government departments, academia, press and foundations. The first presentation was given by Harry Patrinos (World Bank) on the “Latest Global Findings on Returns to Education.” In his remarks, he summarized the latest trends as: Global rate of return is 8-10% a year for every year of schooling completed; Slight decrease over time; Returns to tertiary highest, followed by primary, then secondary; and Higher rates of return for women. Alexey Oshchepkov (HSE) presented his paper, “What Drives Returns to Higher Education: Evidence from Panel Data from Russian Regions.” He examined cross-regional variation in the private rates of return to higher education in Russia. He obtained estimates for 79 regions of the Russian Federation by estimating region-specific Mincerian wage equations using micro-data from the Occupational Wages Survey. He found substantial differences in returns to higher education across Russian regions: wage effects ranging from 40% to 125%. Tatyana Klyachko (RANEPA) presented, “The Average Number of Years of Schooling of the Employed Population of the Russian Regions and How This Influences the Regional Economy.” She documented considerable variation in increases in average schooling levels across Russian cities and regions. Suhas Parandekar (World Bank), who is leading the Analytical Study, Skills and Returns to Education, presented his working paper, “Can depreciation of Human Capital Explain Recent Trends in the Returns to Education in the Russian Federation?” This paper reports the estimation of a Mincerian model and traces the evolution of returns to education in the period 1994-2018. The estimates show an increase in the returns in the first half of this period, followed by a gradual decline. The paper explores the aspect of depreciation of human capital, a topic that has recently become salient because of the threat of automation. Depreciation follows a reverse trajectory, decreasing and them increasing, which may explain part of the observed tendency for the returns to education. Vladimir Gimpelson (HSE) made a presentation on, “Return to Tenure and Post-Schooling Experience: Evidence from Russia.” He shows that there is a positive return to tenure when estimated the conventional way, but when accounting for endogeneity, the premium disappears completely. On the returns to experience, he argues that the labor market was disrupted with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, thus changing the human capital accumulation path for Russian workers. He shows a significant wage disadvantage for those who entered the labor market in the 1980s. The age-earnings profile for Russia – and for other post-transition countries – is relatively flat. A lively discussion ensured, focusing on aspects of the research that are applicable to the Russian reality.
There were discussions about the role of demographics – aging population, migration, mobility. There were also calls for broader measures of human capital – skills, socioemotional, non-cognitive. Finally, there were calls to expand the measure of education by including quality. Future events and research will focus on these and other questions.
WorldSkills Russia – World Bank meeting: MoU signing WorldSkills Russia and the World Bank entered into a Memorandum of Understanding. The aim is to improve the system of technical and vocational education and training in the Russian Federation. The document was signed by the Director General of Worldskills Russia, Robert Urazov, and the Country Director of the World Bank in the Russian Federation, Renaud Seligmann. According to Robert Urazov, the World Bank supports and actively participates in research projects of the Union. “For example, World Bank representatives were among the first to support the Union’s idea of using WorldSkills methodology for the international benchmark of national open source software systems, and took an active part in the events of the WorldSkills Kazan 2019 business program, including the plenary meeting of the Conference and the Ministerial Summit, in which Jaime Saavedra, Head The Bank’s global practice in the field of education, as well as shared expertise in the framework of the global mission: Talent study, which served as the basis for the Kazan Declaration of Skills.”
In the future, Worldskills Russia and the Bank agreed to discuss the organization of joint events – forums, conferences, seminars, working meetings and the creation of working, consultative and expert groups. The parties plan to develop research and various initiatives in the priority areas of their activities, to participate in the implementation of educational activities aimed at improving the level of competencies and developing the skills of youth.
Uzbekistan: GPRBA’s First Impact Bond to Increase Access to Preschool Education | A new education funding project using social impact bonds (SIBs) seeks to help increase the number of children ages 3-7 enrolled in preschools in disadvantaged urban areas across Uzbekistan. The planned program is made possible through a $4.85 million grant provided by the World Bank’s Global Partnership for Results-Based Approaches (GPRBA)…
Uzbekistan to introduce a system of mandatory preparation of 6-year-old children for school | In Uzbekistan, a mandatory one-year system of preparing children for school is being introduced. As the Deputy Minister of Preschool Education Maksudjon Yuldoshev states, now 68 percent of 6-year-old children in the republic attend kindergartens…
Uzbekistan to continue introduction of PPP in preschool education sector |Presidential Resolution on measures to develop PPP in preschool education system prescribes Finance Ministry to allocate USZ182 bln (US$19 mln) to finance loans under agreements on creation of preschool education institutions, implemented at least by 25%. The document highlights that loans worth US$200 mln on construction of kindergartens through PPP were allocated by Uzbek Reconstruction and Development Fund and international financial institutions in in 2019.
Uzbekistan and Belarus agree on the mutual recognition of documents on education | President Mirziyoyev approved the intergovernmental agreement between Uzbekistan and Belarus on the mutual recognition of documents on education and training, Norma writes. It was signed by the parties during the official visit of Shavkat Mirziyoyev to Minsk in August 2019. The sides back then inked a solid package of documents on several mutually beneficial spheres including production, IT, science and others…
USAID/Georgia announces new partnership with Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports | USAID/Georgia announced ‘Achieving Student-Centered Education for a New Tomorrow,’ a four-year program aimed at promoting student-centered instruction in primary education. USAID will provide technical assistance to the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports of Georgia (MoECS) to support education reforms prioritized by the Government of Georgia to ensure sustainable, inclusive, and student-centered education in all of Georgia’s primary schools…
Berdymukhamedov closes the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan | …the government hopes to strengthen the economy and save money amid the ongoing downturn in the energy sector. State support will lose 26 research institutes and the state seismology service. The Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan also includes a higher certification commission, 17 higher schools, two medical research centers, one library and two printing houses. The Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan was founded in 1951 in Ashgabat on the basis of the Turkmen branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences. It was once liquidated during the reign of the former president of the country, Saparmurat Niyazov in 1998, and worked for several years on a voluntary basis. In June 2009, by decree of Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedov, the academy was fully restored…
Challenges in vocational education | A new model for developing vocational education teachers will be introduced. Consequently, salaries of teachers will also increase, in order to attract so-called professional teachers and improve the quality of education, Deputy Education Minister Tamar Kitiashvili told Business Partner. The hourly salary of a vocational education teacher has almost doubled, compared to 2018. The salaries will further increase by the end of 2020, after the introduction of a new system…
How to design a university: A conversation with Doug Becker of Cintana Education
Returns to education in developed countries | M Gunderson, P Oreopoulos – The Economics of Education, 2020 – Elsevier
Returns to education in developing countries | H Patrinos, G Psacharopoulos – The Economics of Education, 2020 – Elsevier
Mobile tutors can be effective in improving learning and children’s transitions from primary to secondary school: evidence from Mexico
Taxing sugary drinks can lead to better health outcomes in Kazakhstan, World Bank says
Health experts, World Bank economists and representatives of the ministries and agencies of Kazakhstan met today to discuss the impact of taxes on sugary drinks in Kazakhstan, the WB reported…
Bid to deepen cooperation of Greek, US universities
Greece deploys cultural heritage to lure foreign students
Study Classical Greece in Athens | The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens was the first public university in Greece to launch an English-speaking BA Program in the Archaeology, History, and Literature of Ancient Greece, addressed to non-EU citizens…
Education, economics and public policy 