Meanwhile, one can find some works devoted to the assessment of the level of commercialization in some other countries during that period of time. Many of them are based on methodology proposed by the European Association of Education Law and Policy (ELA). Before its annual conference in 2009, this association sent out a questionnaire concerning different aspects of commercialization of education to interested people in European countries. The answers helped some academics who were members of the association to make their conclusions relevant for different European countries. Russia was not in that list. This monograph is an attempt to apply this method to Russia as the object of research. It consists of the questions from ELÁs questionnaire and of the answers to them.
Part 1. Competition law in education
1. Is providing free education a commercial service according to national legislation?
The term “educational service” is found in the Law of the Russian Federation (RF) “On education” №3266—1, dated 10 July 1992 in the articles and clauses devoted to paid education. Only three times in the text of the Law use of the term concerns not only paid education, but also a free one. In part 8, Article 19, it is stated: “Educational establishments according to agreements and together with enterprises, institutions, organizations may provide training to students as an additional (including paid) educational service.” Similarly, in part 4, Article 50 one can read that students of all educational establishments have the right to “receive additional (including paid) educational services.” Thus, paid services are only a part of a more general notion of “educational services”. So, free education can be regarded as a service, too, and it’s providing, according to part 8, Article 19, is possible “with a license (permission) to the specified activity” only. In addition, clauses 16 and 17, Article 28 place establishing the general principles of financing of educational services and financing of federal government educational institutions and educational services itself among the credentials of federal bodies of state authority in the field of education.
It turns out that education belongs to the sphere of services, rather than to the social sphere, regardless of being paid or free.