This is the summary of an article titled "Making education efficient." 

The subject of the article is an education system reform in Russia.

The majority of high school students aim to eventually get into higher education institutions. The popularity of getting a degree leads to an oversaturation of bachelor's degree holders compared to vocational education students that is disproportionate to labor market demand, leading to employment challenges.

The new education reform is supposed to fix this problem. The goal of the reform is to find inefficient higher education institutions that produce graduates in oversaturated professions and reorganize them — either closing them down or taking measures to make them more efficient. According to a 2012 study, a quarter of higher education institutions was deemed inefficient. It's even worse for their branches — one in every two was deemed inefficient.

One of the factors that led to this issue is the demographic crisis. Lower birth rates have led to a significant reduction in the number of applicants, which has led to reduction of passing scores on entrance exams. The requirements for students were also made easier. As a result, up to 70% of graduates don't meet industry standards. Because of the reduced number of students, the closure of higher education institutions won't create a deficit, and some of those inefficient institutions will improve as a result of implementing sound management decisions.

The Ministry of Education is very optimistic in its prognosis. It is confident that this proposed reduction in the number of institutions will lead to higher competitiveness among applicants, which would improve the national quality of education. 

https://iz.ru/news/675033