ASU Discusses Specificity of Organizing Academic Mobility in University SCO Programmes under Pandemic

May 28 saw a videoconference meeting on the issues of admitting foreign citizens for joint educational programmes of networking universities of the SCO, BRICS and CIS.

The online meeting involved representatives of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, Department of State Policy in Higher Education, Rossotrudnichestvo and higher educational institutions. Astrakhan State University was represented by Rector Konstantin Markelov, Head of the Project Office of International Cooperation and Development Irina Bocharnikova and Vice Rector for Research Activities Anna Fedotova.

The event was organized due to a large number of universities’ inquiries to the coordination committee of the SCO, BRICS and CIS on the issues of admission for network educational programmes under the pandemic conditions.

During the videoconference session, the participants presented their reports on the activities that are being carried out on the issue under consideration in each networking university, made their own proposals on facilitating the procedure of students’ admission and discussed some pressing issues.

Distance learning was a separate item of the agenda, as not all the universities can present a programme for organization of online classes right now. The experts also discussed the legal framework of implementing programmes within the networking. A number of proposals were put forward, for example on facilitating the procedure of document submission under the pandemic conditions.