Activists of the Young Russia movement advocating amendments to the Education Law have displayed a live ostrich in downtown Moscow. A Young Russia spokesperson said the ostrich symbolized the official attitude toward education issues. "Officials merely stick their heads in the sand, while student self-government bodies at Russian colleges and universities lack any legal status," the spokesperson stressed. Young Russia leader and State Duma deputy Maxim Mishchenko co-authored amendments to the educaiton law. Under the amendments, student unions must have the right to provide students with jobs and residences and organize their leisure. Student unions would also be expected to monitor students' academic records and represent their interests at meetings of college-anduniversity academic councils. The State Duma is to examine such amendments in the first reading early this March. Young people believe that student councils can deal with student-rights violations, substandard education, job-placement problems, corruption at universities, the conservative and bureaucratic education system, rundown student residences and illegal accommodation of migrant workers there.
- Categories: Social Issues
- Location: Moscow, Russia
- Event date: 17.02.2009
- Date published: 17.02.2009
- Source: Sputnik
- Credit: Sputnik
- Original: Computer graphics
- Media: JPEG, 2676x2290px, 872Kb