HERC Field-work visit to three higher education institutions in Moscow

In the week 9-16 April, Dr Ekaterina Kozina undertook a preliminary scoping visit to three higher education institutions in Moscow: the Higher School of Economics (National Research University), the Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences (Russian-British Postgraduate Higher Education institution) and Moscow State Technical University (MIREA). The field trip was undertaken as part of the EC funded project “Opening Higher Education to Adults”, of which HERC is the Irish partner.

During her visit Ekaterina met with the representatives and key people working in the area of higher education policy and development in Russia. The topics discussed included:

- Important factors that facilitate / inhibit participation of adults in higher education;
- Flexibility of the HEI regarding organisation of study and admission criteria;
- Policies to open HE to adults (eg. recognition of prior learning);
- Financial provision at national level (student grants, loans);
- Innovative teaching & learning approaches appropriate to the target groups, etc.

Further efforts will be made to foster collaborative relations with these universities in the future.