Number of foreign students in Tatarstan to be doubled

By 2019, the number of foreign students studying at Tatarstan higher educational establishments was planned to be increased to 5 percent of the total number of students, Tatarstan first deputy education and science minister Andrei Pominov told a briefing held on Tatarstan delegation visiti to Singapore and Vietnam.

“Last school year, over 4,000 people from abroad, or 2.3 percent of the total number of students in the republic, studied at Tatarstan higher educational institutions. We set the task to, within 5 years, increase the figure to 5 percent. Considering that 4 years ago the figure was a mere 1 percent, the present trend shows good progress,” said Andrei Pominov.

Promoting contacts with various foreign partners in education was a priority for Tatarstan and Russia as a whole, he added.

“Vietnam is a key country in terms of education cooperation, as the country rapidly progresses and has traditional contacts with Russia,” said the official. “But there are rather few students and researchers working at local universities and research centres. Last year, as few as 68 Vietnamese people studied at local higher schools.”

Very few remain in Tatarstan, most of them go back home. According to Pominov, Tatarstan higher school graduates are in great demand in our country, which testifies to high quality of education in the region.