This month, in Moscow, Russia, Peoples’ Friendship University marks 60th year of its existence. By general standards, 60 years is not a long history for a University of world reputation but this University is unique in its own way. It is the only University in the world which unites students from nearly 150 countries, benefiting those countries with the knowledge and training it has gifted.
In Russian Federation, that is Russia we know it, there are over 12,000 Universities and Higher Educational Establishments. Peoples’ Friendship University occupies 5th to 9th position according to recent rankings done on different criteria. In the world ranking, it is in the bracket of best 500 Universities according to several surveys. As at the end of the year 2014, the University has produced over 90,000 graduates, including 5,500 post graduates with doctorates and other scientists who now work in over 70 countries while former President of Sri Lanka, Namibia, Angola, South African Republic, Gabon, Guyana and Nigeria as well as the former Prime Ministers of Bangladesh and Kazakhstan have become honourary doctorate holders of it.
The University was founded on February 5, 1960 by the decision of the government of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics headed by the then Prime Minister, Nikitha Khushev in order to assist the developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America in giving higher education to the young people from those continents. Initially, the old buildings of the Russian Military Academy and its hostels situated near Moscow city centre, were allocated for the new University and also a large plot of land for future construction of the University Complex in less busy South West District of Moscow.
The University began with Prof. Rumyantsev as its first Rector or Vice Chancellor with six main Faculties, namely Engineering, Medical, Economics and Law, Agronomy and History and Philology along with the Preparatory Faculty where new students learnt mainly Russian Language which was the medium of studies.
On February 22, 1961, the University was named after the assassinated Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba who was a well-known African leader who strongly believed in the power of education in the struggle for freedom. Since then, the University was popularly known as “Lumumba University”, particularly in Sri Lanka. In 1965, the first batch of 288 graduates from 47 developing countries, including Sri Lanka, passed out and the University never looked back since then. In 1969, it had over 5,000 students from 83 countries with over 100 Sri Lankans and two fifth of this were Soviet students.
Those days, education, accommodation and medical facilities and library facilities as well as air passage to Moscow and back after completing education were provided free, In addition, upon arrival, every student was given free of charge, a suit, two sets of winter underwear, a pair of winter boots, a fur winter cap, a heavy winter coat, two pairs of woolen socks, a pullover and complete sets of sport wear for both summer and winter.
In 1966, construction started in the South Western District of Moscow for the new University Complex and soon after, the faculties of Economics and Law, History and Philology and the Preparatory were shifted there. Construction of modern buildings for hostels also began.
It was almost a miracle that the well trained Russian Language teachers, using well developed modern techniques made the foreign students, totally alien to Russian Language, reasonably conversant in it, during the first five and half months. Language studies were not confined to class rooms and studios with audio equipment but there were many other features. Among them were the number of excursions organized to the places of interest and many Museums in Moscow city and its suburbs. One such place which was always in the programme over the years was “Yasnaya Polyana” where the mansion of the greatest Russian writer Lev Tholstoy is situated. The programme also included watching several famous Russian ballets in great concert halls in Moscow.
During the second half of the first year the students repeated basic subjects being Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics for engineering students, in Russian medium, getting themselves familiarized with terminology while advancing their communication skills in Russian language. At the end of the year, the students were ready for their main course of studies. Similarly basic subjects relevant to other courses were taught during the second term.
The aspect of holiday after each semester of hard work was seriously considered. First came the two weeks long winter holiday at end of January. During this time, being the peak of winter season, the average temperature in Moscow is around 10 -15 centigrade below zero. There were days when it went down even over 30 degrees below zero. Students are taken to special winter holiday homes situated in rural areas of outskirts of Moscow. These places have comfortable accommodation with Winter sports facilities such as skating on ice, skiing in forest areas and riding sledges downhill on thick snow. No need to say that how exciting this experience was to the foreign students who are mainly from tropical countries, who experienced snow and such cold weather for the first time. These places also served such delicious and nourishing traditional Russian cuisine, remembered for a long time. End of the first year Summer holidays is two months long and the first month was spent in a holiday resort on Black Sea coast. It was a two days long enjoyable train journey from Moscow to the south. Excellent food was served in these resorts and other than sea bathing various activities such as concerts and sports events were organised for the evenings.
The second month of the summer holidays, students spent time in a holiday camp within a large Collective Farm in Moldavia, a Republic of former USSR, bordering Rumania which now has become an independent country. The tour from black sea coast to Moldavia was made first to the port city of Odessa in Ukraine by a small ship or by train along the Black sea coast and the rest from there by a bus.
During the main course of studies, at the end of each academic year, as a part of the curricula, students were required to go through comprehensive practical training programmes. For medical students the clinical training was given in Moscow hospitals and for the engineering students this was given in large factories and construction sites mostly in distant places. These practical sessions were extremely useful later in their careers. Mechanical engineering students had to learn welding and operation of lathe machines while the Civil engineering students had to involve themselves in carpentry, steel fixing and concreting gangs as unskilled workers. Most exciting thing here was the students had the opportunity of witnessing and involving in constructions of such magnitude rarely seen in their own countries.
The University had and maintains a very high teacher student ratio assuring that each student receives continuous attention. Teachers were highly qualified contrary to some of the Western world propaganda, common during the cold war era. For an example, the head of my department in the engineering faculty, Prof. Rjanitsin was a D.Sc. I Hydraulic Engineering and he, almost single handedly developed the theory of River Hydraulics Science as a separate subject. He was a permanent representative of USSR at the International conference for Hydraulic and Water engineering in Paris. Prof. Sakolov, the head of the Chair for Metal Structures was a, member of the team which designed the robotic craft named “Lunakhod”, which travelled on the lunar surface and sent detailed photographs.
Peoples’ Friendship University gave thousands of young people from Asia, Africa and Latin America, higher education absolutely free which they would not have received otherwise, at least in most cases, enabling them to develop themselves and serve mankind. True to the purpose of the University most of them became leading Doctors, Engineers, Scientists, leaders of industries and politicians in their communities and elsewhere. In Sri Lanka as well, we had and have, graduates from the Friendship University in Moscow, in positions of Ministry Secretaries, University Professors, Prominent Medical doctors, engineers, Chairmen and General Managers of Government Corporations, Statutory Boards, Heads of Government Departments and other Institutions and in leading positions in the private sector as well as in international organisations such as, United Nations, World Bank and Asian Development Bank. In short, I would say that the Peoples’ Friendship University in Moscow has made and enormous contribution to the development of this country.
In 1990 and 1991 draconian political changes took place in Russia with the collapse of the Soviet system and the University’s free scholarship system could not sustain any longer. University changed its name to Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia. However, these years also witnessed the expansion of the University adding more faculties. Faculties of Economics and Law and History and Philology, became four separate faculties. Institutes of Cosmology and Gravitation, Hospitality Industry, Tourism and Business studies, Health Care Professionals, Distant Learning and Foreign Languages were added. Also, it began conducting courses in English medium. The University also introduced a system of pre and post University education. In the Year 2006 the 50,000th graduate passed out from the University.
Today, the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia has become world renowned major Academic and Research Centre.
In recent years, the University began offering free scholarships again but with certain limitations. Scholarship winners are required to pay for the air passage to and from Moscow. They are given free tuition, medical and library facilities along with hostel facilities for a nominal fee but should bear living and travelling costs on their own through a small living allowance is given which is not adequate as in the Good old days.
In February 2020, Peoples’ Friendship University is celebrating the 60th Anniversary of its founding. It has produced more than 1,000 Sri Lankan specialists in a multitude of professions. We are forever indebted to the Soviet Union/Russia for their help in enabling us to pursue different careers thus to serve Mother Lanka in an exemplary manner.
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