Market transformation of education and quality of population

The article analyzes the impact that permanent education reforms have on the quality of the population, its educational potential. The main innovations and their consequences are analyzed sequentially at each of the stages of the education system: preschool, school, in the system of vocational and higher education, as well as at the level of training of scientific and pedagogical personnel. The analysis is based on numerous empirical studies in the field of education, implemented with the participation of the author over the past two decades. It is shown that at all stages of the Russian education system, the availability of education decreases, and its quality, if in some cases remains relatively good, it is rather despite, and not due to, the conditions created. It is concluded that the lack of positive results is associated with the prevailing market fundamentalism in post-Soviet Russia, which considers the education sector as a service industry intended for profit, as well as with the specifics of the current economic model, within which preferential development received not the high-tech industries interested in development education and science, but the raw materials and trade and intermediary sectors of the economy, which are not interested in innovations. Overcoming negative tendencies requires a fundamental revision of the attitude towards education - its perception not as a «service», but as an institution of development. This understanding of the role and functions of education should lead to a revision of approaches to its financing, rationing, and remuneration of education workers, and a revision of educational legislation to eliminate norms that stimulate commercial relations, thereby, reduce the availability of education. In addition, it is necessary to create conditions for the development of high-tech industries that require qualified personnel