The IT companies in Eurasia have switched to large-scale training in short-term courses. The new specialists are trained in a matter of months. What is the role of traditional higher technical education today? What specialties are most in-demand by the industry and who should pay for their training? These topics were discussed at the StrategEast.Live panel “The role of the academy in the development of the IT industry”.
Elvin Aliyev, Director of E-Training Department of Baku Higher Oil School, Azerbaijan, opened the discussion: “The world has moved online, education has moved online, and the role of IT systems has become decisive, which means that today IT education should start from the base, from school. There are more than 1000 students in our university. We have built an online education system with smartboards and personal accounts for every student”.
Andrii Glybovets, Dean of the Faculty of Computer Science at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academу, Ukraine, talked about challenges in education system: “Most universities in our country are state-owned and teachers’ salaries are very small, about $500. Our students, while working part-time, make more money than teachers do. In such conditions, it is impossible to retain quality teachers. Therefore, we have opened joint programs with Ukrainian IT companies. Thus, we have launched the MA program with EPAM Systems. This year we had our first graduation, and we saw how these students differ – they know exactly why they came to the University. In addition, EPAM provided us with quality educational content that meets the needs of modern times.”
According to Maxim Khomyakov, Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan, most post-Soviet universities oriented towards the needs of the industrial economy are not fast enough to keep pace with technological changes. Hard skills are what these universities teach. A modern university should be built on the concept of lifelong learning. It should only give the student capacity to learn, not hard skills, but soft skills. The humanistic approach, not hard technology skills – this is the future of higher education.
“I believe we should look for new formats of education in the IT industry itself. Recently a new global IT company started operations in Georgia; and they need 500 specialists in the next three years. I told them – we need to sit down together, understand your demands, and we are ready to fulfill them. We are ready to prepare and implement an educational program that meets your needs”, Kakha Shengelia, President of Caucasus University, Georgia, shared his experience.
Answering the question by the panel moderator Anatoly Motkin, President of StrategEast about how modern IT educational programs at universities should be financed, Andrii Glybovets expressed the opinion that students should pay for education themselves. Only then do they get a better education and take education more seriously than when the state covers their educational expenses. Today in Ukraine, tuition fees at private universities are up to $3,000 per year. However, IT companies have study grant programs where they can provide funds to pay for individual students’ education.
According to Kakha Shengelia, the state should support private schools financially. The best educational institutions in the world – from Harvard to MIT – are private. There is no need to invent anything new – the states of Eurasia should simply take the best model.
“From international donors, we need targeted support for teachers who conduct quality programs,” added Andrii Glybovets, “this is the only way to keep quality teachers in the academy. They are not only the asset of the university, they are the asset of the country, the region, and their experience should be extended to the entire region.”
