Shiksha Exclusive: India is an Important country for us, Keen to deepen academic ties, says Russian Minister

During an exclusive conversation with Shiksha.com, Semenova Tatyana Vladimirovna, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Health of Russia spoke at length about Russian medical education and various opportunities Russia is offering as a country. Read excerpts of the covernsation below...

Semenova Tatyana Vladimirovna, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Health of Russia

A large number of Indian students head to Russia to pursue medical education or MBBS. At present, there are over 20,000 Indian students in Russia. Russia has announced to provide 500 scholarships to Indian students across a diverse array of fields, including medical sciences, engineering, nuclear science, aviation, management, aerospace, and more. Rus Education has also pledged scholarships worth INR 48 lakhs for Indian students.

Q. The Russian government is hosting a significant education summit in New Delhi, featuring top ministers, chancellors of 20 universities, and senior officials from Russian institutions. What's the objective behind this event?

Semenova Vladimirovna: The Russian government is organizing a major Indo-Russian education summit in New Delhi to promote Russian universities and increase awareness about the high-quality Russian education system. I look after the medical education in Russia. Every country follows a different approach to medical education depending on the needs and requirements of its people.

High-quality medical education is very important for human kind as new challenges are diseases are coming like COVID-19. These days a lot of catastrophes are happening around the world, be it natural or manmade. We need to stay united if we have to fight these catastrophes.

It is important to create highly qualified doctors and these doctors need to collaborate to conquer diseases like coronavirus.

Q. As a Minister in the Russian Government, how is Russia endeavoring to attract more Indian students?

Semenova Vladimirovna: We get students from 120 nations to pursue medical education and India is an important country out of these 120. We as a country Are working on showcasing the top-quality facilities available in our universities. We are also working on further improving the facilities for international students.

Every year, every day, every minute we work very hard to provide the best facility to international students.

We have also started teaching in English now so that students will not need to learn Russian before commencing their medical education. Our teachers are learning English and teaching in English language now.       

Q. How do you look to collaborate with Indian and Indian education institutions?

Semenova Vladimirovna: India is a very important country for us and we are looking to further improve our relationship. Many of our top universities have come to India are they would be collaborating with their Indian counterparts for different types of academic and research activities.

We are looking to further improve the medical education collaboration with Indian institutions and Indian students can leverage the facilities of Russian medical education.

Q. Russia and India are important members of BRICS, are there some new areas the two nations are exploring to further education ties?

Semenova Vladimirovna: Yes BRICS is an important group and we do have deliberations during BRICS meetings we come to an understanding if there are some barriers in the development of education collaboration, we try to break them during BRICS Summits.

Through the BRICS summit, we are able to start some new courses for our students and we are committed to further improving education ties through it and improving medical education among member nations.

Q. During your current visit to India, what new offerings are likely from the Russian government?

Semenova Vladimirovna: We are looking to explore the option of taking Indian medical professionals, and doctors to Russia to improve their skills by providing training. We are looking to further improve awareness about Russian medical education for Indian students to explore medical education in Russia.

We are positive that Indian universities will find the right kind of partner in Russian universities to further improve ties.

Against the backdrop of Russia's rich academic heritage, renowned institutions like Lomonosov Moscow State University, Saint Petersburg State University, and Novosibirsk State University stand as beacons of excellence, attracting students from around the globe.