The decline in mathematical education may destroy the Russian science once and for all. And also The Paradox is that American mathematical education itself is one of the worst in the world, but the system of American mathematical education as a whole is probably the best, since the whole world is integrated into it. Now that the USSR ceased to exist and Russia does not quite measure up to the status of a superpower, it may be natural to think of the American education in global terms. There is little doubt however that, for example, French, Chinese or Japanese education systems have been evolving very much on their own. This of course did not protect them from developing home grown shortcomings.
None is perfect.
It appears that the problem faced by Japanese colleges is twofold. On one hand, the child population in Japan dwindles steadily. One projection has it that by the year 2009 population of potential students will be so low that colleges will have to admit all applicants in order to fill their teaching capacity. On the other hand, declining ability and knowledge of college freshmen has been observed yet in early 1990s. In 1994, the Mathematical Society of Japan established a working group to study the brewing crisis.