FAS SHARED ITS EXPERIENCE ON DEVELOPING COMPETITION IN THE EDUCATIONAL MARKET

The discussion took place at an OECD Round Table in Paris

On 3 June 2019, No.2 Working Group on Competition and Regulation of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) organized the Round Table in Paris about “State–financed educational markets” to discuss competition on the educational markets.

The participants, comprising representatives of the competition authorities of Russia, Australia and Spain and the leading experts in education arrived to the conclusion that educational markets all over the world face regulatory challenges and specifics of legislation, that can prevent, restrict or distort competition. They pointed out that clear and transparent rules between public and private educational establishments must be set to develop competition. It seems that the key task is to maintain competition between all students regardless of their cultural, ethnic or religious background.

FAS representatives shared experience of protecting and developing competition on the market of education in Russia. They pointed out that modernizing the law on education in the basis of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, FAS initiated introduction of the norms that ensure equal legal status of all educational institutions regardless of the ownership forms. Russia also adopted the norms ensuring participation of the state in бsupporting private education in the part of financing private educational establishments in pre-school and secondary school segments, as well as ensured equal rights for state and municipal support and participation in public and municipal programmes.

FAS representatives also informed the Round Table about exercising control over federal executive bodies, regional authorities and local self-government bodies in education.

Finally, FAS delegation highlighted several events organized by FAS to develop competition on the Russian market of education, including support of private educational establishments providing private pre-school educational programmes or children care, and exercising the rights of educational staff of private educational organizations residing in rural areas for compensating utility costs along with the staff of public and municipal educational establishments.

Deputy Head of FAS Andrey Tsyganov summed up: “Educational services are of fundamental importance for economic and social well-being and development. They not only directly enhance productivity of public and private sectors but also improve the skills of competent workers. Discussions in this sphere are always timely because competition protection in such socially significant market is one of the priorities of antimonopoly regulators, including FAS”.