Meeting with Education Minister and First Deputy Head of Belarus President Administration

The education system of Belarus will be scrutinized, President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he met with Education Minister Sergei Maskevich and First Deputy Head of the Belarus President Administration Alexander Radkov on 8 August.

The head of state gave an instruction to prepare a special session to discuss key issues of the education sector, analyze its current state and determine the development strategy for the near future. “We will scrutinize the education system. We have done it with the agricultural sector, construction, housing and public utilities industry. It is needed to look into the education system taking into consideration our experience: what we achieved and what we failed, what has to be done and improved,” the President said.

At the same time, Aleksandr Lukashenko emphasized that Belarus has a normal system of education. It is only needed to improve it without drastic reforms. “We do not need more reforms. Nevertheless, the life goes on, new processes and trends emerge, and the education system cannot stand still. On one way or another, it has to be improved,” the head of state said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko wanted to know about the results of this year’s enrollment campaign in Belarus and the analysis of the application of the centralized testing. The head of state instructed to study this issue once again, especially to analyze testing materials, their relevance and quality.

Another issue on the agenda was the preparation of educational institutions for the new academic year.

Sergei Maskevich told the President about the fulfillment of instructions concerning the development of the education sector. In particular, specialists prepared amendments to the Education Code after the monitoring of the application of this legal framework. These changes will be submitted for public consideration within a year.

According to the minister, it is also essential to optimize secondary education facilities in connection with the development of the demographic situation. On the one hand, the number of school students is increasing. On the other hand, it is partially caused by migration processes and the reduction in the number of pupils in rural schools. The ministry has stepped up efforts to resolve personnel issues in pre-school education facilities. It is especially important for Minsk and oblast capitals.