ULYANOVSK — President Dmitry Medvedev issued a number of orders to support students during Monday's meeting of his modernization commission, which he conducted in the regional city of Ulyanovsk.
The president ordered federal and regional authorities to create by Dec. 1 of this year a system for providing commuter train tickets to students that match educational terms.
Medvedev also addressed employment issues for students, giving officials until Feb. 1 to provide more job opportunities for students at institutions of higher learning, research facilities and small enterprises and create specialized job centers for students. He also asked the authorities to make proposals by Feb. 1 for equipping all academic buildings and dormitories with high-speed Internet and Wi-Fi.
Student housing was addressed as well. The president gave instructions that a special program be developed to build new dormitories and renovate old ones for students arriving from other cities. He said federal budget funds should be provided for this task.
Medvedev instructed the Cabinet to organize, together with the rectors of universities and representatives of student organizations, a process to verify the proper use of dormitory buildings and participate in designing model student-housing projects for future construction.
At last week's meeting on the social status of students, conducted by Medvedev at the People's Friendship University in Moscow, Education and Science Minister Andrei Fursenko said one in 10 people living in university dormitories have nothing to do whatsoever with the schools that provide student housing.
Medvedev made Prime Minister Vladimir Putin responsible for the implementation of these orders, and gave the government until March 1, 2012, to report on its progress.
(Interfax, MT)
