Students from “intellectual centres” of French-speaking Africa can pretty soon get a fair quantity of places in Russian universities. That was the request made to the Chairman of the Committee for International Affairs of the Council of Federation, Mr. Mikhail Margelov, by the minister of the government of the Republic of Mali, Mr. Abdrahman Silla, during a meeting with him, reported the Press service of the Council of Federation.

– Educational programs and opportunity to train students from Mali in Russia are important for us. We would like your country to increase quotas for our students, said Mr. Abdrahman Silla. – The demand for specialists in pedagogy and technical disciplines is growing in Mali. Seven ministers of the government formed by the new president of Mali are graduates of Russian universities.

“It is very pleasant that Russian university graduates are appointed to top political offices. We consider it to be a part of our collective success,” noted Mr. Mikhail Margelov.

Russia is also interested in attraction of students from abroad as an opportunity to maintain all its training fields. Furthermore, the quantity of foreign students is one of the University’s operating efficiency criteria, applied by the Ministry of Education and Science during monitoring.