By Vestnik Kavkaza
The State Duma is empty now - the deputies went on vacation, having completed their spring session which was remembered by several resonance bills. This is a serious limitation for smokers and opposition to non-traditional sexual relations, the law on the introduction of criminal liability for the actions that offend the feelings of believers and a draft law against Internet piracy, allowing the blocking of sites at the time of trial, and of course, the bill on the reform of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS).
Commenting on the latter, Sergey Naryshkin, Chairman of the Lower House of the Parliament, said: “We are very attentive to the bill, which was quite unexpected for the State Duma deputies when we received it from the government of the Russian Federation. From the first day we began active work and discussion in the parliament around this bill, involving, of course, representatives of the academic and scientific community. First, the faction "United Russia", and then the Council of the State Duma said that we will take the final decision on the bill in the autumn session. And we passed the two readings, the first and the second of the bill. This is not PR, no, it's the opposite, in my opinion, it is normal parliamentary practice, it is careful work on the bill, especially on such a bill, which immediately caused sharp disputes and heated debates in the professional community and in society as a whole. And we, of course, must respond to it”.
The MPs also responded to a new scandal around the USE. “Together with the experts, we considered all the pros and cons of this prolonged experiment, which has passed into the next stage already”, Vice-Speaker of the State Duma Lyudmila Shvetsova said. “And if I were to summarize the results of this open platform, we have agreed that we will continue to work further with the fact that: a) all the flaws that exist in the exam and in the organization of the exam should be fixed, and b) the exam is not an absolute means of assessment of the student work and the work of the teachers and regions who organize the educational process, etc. Because we have, unfortunately, already set the USE as a totally incomprehensible criterion of all the achievements and shortcomings of our education system”.
Ivan Melnikov, first deputy speaker of the State Duma, thinks the situation with the USE is very serious: “Some people try to present the situation in a way on which there are some individual violations. In fact, Rosobrnadzor conducted research in 18 regions of Russia. These studies have shown that if you take works with a high score (of 80 points or more), then 77% of the scores are inflated. That is, the situation is close to a disaster. And at the open platform, which took place, I think its conclusion was: it is clear that, of course, in the future, the USE will continue, but not in the way it happened in last two years”.
Recalling the Dima Yakovlev Law, Sergey Naryshkin said: “The law in question has been passed. Its rules apply. Is it necessary to revise it or not? I think that now we have no reason to revise it. In addition, and this is an essential characteristic of the parliamentary work in this Spring Session, a large amount of important, relevant, very specific laws that aim to support families, support children, orphaned children left without parental care has been passed. The general policy of the state is that we should to raise our children ourselves”.
Commenting on the issue of international relations concerning the situation in Pugachevo, Naryshkin said: “Here, of course, first of all the law enforcement agencies, and where appropriate, local and regional authorities should act. I do not see a subject for legislative implementation here”.
In autumn, the MPs will continue to work on the bill, which introduces a mixed system of elections to the State Duma, and the amendment to the Constitution, which should provide the union of the Supreme Court and the High Court of Arbitration in accordance with the initiative of the President of the Russian Federation.
