New meetings and new plans for international cooperation

Last week, a major scientist in the field of Education Law and Policy, Professor Jan De Groof was on a work visit at the HSE Institute of Education. His titles include professor at the College of Europe (Bruges, Belgium) and at Tilburg University (the Netherlands). He is founder and President of the European Association for Education Law and Policy (ELA), and was a member of the Working Group for drafting the Russian Federation Law “On education” in 1992.

The working agenda of this visit involved a discussion of the prospects for the creation of the International Center for Education Law and Policy at the Institute of Education. The new unit is expected to become Russia's leading research center for reseach, expert analysis and education in the field of Education Law and Policy.

During his visit to the Institute of Education, Professor Jan De Groof gave a lecture under the title "The Right to Education and Inequality in Education: Legal View". He also took part in a number of meetings with the staff of the Institute, representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation and the State Duma.

At the meeting with M.N. Zhivaev, Director of the Legal Department of the Ministry of Education, they talked about pecularities of norm-setting process of the Ministry in preparation of draft laws and regulations, as well as of the ways to improve the juridicial qualification of the staff of the Legal Department. The conversation also touched upon the issue of federalism in the Russian educational policy.

The meeeting with P.E. Kondrashov, the head of the State Duma's Education Committee, was dedicated to the discussion of the role stakeholders play in the legislative process, as well as to the formation of the legislative agenda.

Such meetings, held at the Institute, with its parts being reputable foreign scientists and government officials, give an opportunity to get some feedback from the authorities, concerning educational policy. It also lets government officials to form a relevant order package within the framework of expert-analytical work and consulting in the field of education, which are the major thematic areas of focus of the Institute of Education.