IT companies may be required to send employees to universities to renew accreditation – Kommersant

According to Kommersant’s interlocutor, support for universities will be mandatory for companies with revenues of one billion rubles. The department confirmed to the publication that the proposal had been discussed with industry representatives, but stressed that “it is too early to talk about specific figures.” According to the Ministry of Digital Development, the new measure will help improve the qualifications of graduates and will not affect the pace of development of startups.

Sources from the publication named three criteria, the fulfillment of which will allow the accreditation to be maintained:

• Organization of internships for students in IT companies.
• support for technical equipment of universities
• send employees as university professors.

According to Kommersant’s interlocutor, the initiative involves the conclusion of agreements between the main market players and universities at all levels, including regional ones. Depending on this, a decision on accreditation can be made.

“It is important to maintain autonomy when the company itself determines the development vector of its educational programs. Strict regulation of relationships will create a serious bureaucratic burden,” said the Big Data Association (which includes Yandex, Sber, VK, MTS, etc.).

According to a representative of Rostelecom, the high cost of high-quality IT specialists should encourage large companies to go to universities.

At the end of August this year, the head of the Ministry of Digital Development, Maksut Shadayev, spoke about plans to force large IT companies to invest in specialized higher education, deducting 5% of tax deductions from profits the industry. This measure was also called one of the mandatory conditions for maintaining IT accreditation.

According to the website of the Ministry of Digital Development, accreditation is carried out by the department free of charge and involves a number of support measures from the state: reduced taxes, preferential mortgages, exemption from inspections, preferential loans, postponement of compulsory military service for employees, etc.