Ministry of Education and Science may be split into two Ministries: sphere of education will likely be supervised by Olga Vasilieva, while sphere of science by Grigory Trubnikov, Oleg Smolin, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee for Science and Education, said.
"This issue is being discussed. If fact, it's being discussed for over 10 years," Smolin noted. "It seems that the final decision will be made this year," he believes.
Parliamentarian noted: "If we talk about pros and cons, then, on the one hand, it's logical to unite the Ministry of Science and the Ministry of Education, because many scientific products are produced by educational institutions."
But "there's another logic," he pointed out. "We have to bear in mind that it's necessary to ensure commercialization of the results of scientific activity," Smolin stressed.
"I don't know what decision will be made in the end," he noted, adding that so far "there's no absolutely reliable information."
As vice-rector of the Academy of Labor and Social Relations Alexander Safonov noted in an interview with Vestnik Kavkaza, advantages of spliting the Ministry of Education and Science into two are obvious. "In accordance with the decree of President Putin, one of the main tasks set for the new government of the Russian Federation is to ensure development of innovations. Naturally, it's impossible to do this without development of science, without proper understanding of scientific work, and in this context the focus on science and scientific breakthroughs seems appropriate and correct," he explained.
"The Ministry of Science will be able to conduct strategic work, understand main challenges in the sphere of science, choose necessary priorities, create the base for technological breakthroughs," he said.
