Deputy Education Minister quits amid political tensions

(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Anna Arutunyan – May 28, 2013) Russia’s Deputy Education Minister Igor Fedyukin announced his resignation on Tuesday, citing growing political tensions.

“I hope that my departure will at least partially lower the unprecedented tensions that are [escalating] around decisions made by the ministry,” Fedyukin was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying. He thanked Education Minister Dmitry Livanov for his “dedication to Russian science” in his resignation.

His statement came just hours after reports appeared that six Education Ministry officials were fired following a probe investigating whether they were involved in approving fake dissertations.

Earlier, the Izvestia daily – citing a government source – reported that Fedyukin had been sacked. But Fedyukov said he resigned of his own volition and called the report part of an “information attack” on the ministry.

The Education Ministry has experienced increasing criticism this year over mounting accusations that it has been approving fake degrees. Analysts, however, interpret the pressure as part of growing political tensions within Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s government.

The Education Ministry has been asked to oversee ambitious education reform, including plans to cut the number of higher education facilities in Russia in a bid to optimize Russia’s higher education system. Ministers like Livanov have come under attack for those plans, which have proved unpopular especially among students.

On April 22, three Duma opposition parties appealed to President Vladimir Putin to fire Education Minister Dmitry Livanov. Two days later, Vladimir Zhirinovsky – the head of the nationalist LDPR party – accused Fedyukin himself of forging his diploma. Then last week, Valentina Matviyenko, the speaker of the Federation Council (the upper chamber of parliament), attacked the Education Ministry for failing to develop a program on intellectual rights. During a meeting last week, Matviyenko singled out Fedyukin, asking, “Where’s the strategy? Where’s the document? It’s like we’re at a cooking school,” according to RIA Novosti.