News & Events in Belarus

MINSK, 3 May (BelTA) – It is essential to take into account the needs of the economy in the training of specialists and enrolment of school graduates in higher educational institutions, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said at the session held on 3 May to discuss the improvement of university and college admission regulations, BelTA informs.

The head of state explained why he is paying so much attention to the enrolment campaign. “This is a crucial stage for the future of our country. A country relies on good specialists. And these are, first of all, university graduates,” he said.

Alexander Lukashenko stressed that the state commission for the enrolment campaign will do its best to solve pending issues. “We should pay close attention to this matter,” the head of state is convinced.

The university enrolment has been already discussed at the presidential level. “Back then we decided to reform the enrolment campaign replacing exams by centralized tests,” the President said and added that different opinions on this issue still exist. “Neither of the opinions prevails. Some people are in favor of centralized testing, others prefer the previous forms of exams. We have been trying to combine centralized tests with traditional exams at a number of universities, especially at the universities of culture and art. Today we, including me, are not unanimous on the matter. I do not favor any of the forms of the entrance tests, that is why I would like to listen to you and the society.”

Alexander Lukashenko also reminded the meeting participants about the agreement to analyze the enrolment campaign on an annual basis involving the state commission for the enrolment campaign, make conclusions and introduce amendments if necessary.

The President said that the needs of the economy, social sector, healthcare, education, agriculture, and manufacturing are the priority. “We will always take into account these needs concerning the number and the level of training of our school graduates, future students,” the head of state stressed.

“You suggest using tough criteria in providing preferences to certain categories of applicants, for example, winners of academic excellence competitions or athletes. There are many proposals. Since I do not have a definite opinion on a number of them, I would like to listen to your opinion on all the stages in the enrolment campaign,” Alexander Lukashenko noted.

The President urged to pay special attention to the organization of the enrolment campaign.

Partaking in the session are Vice Premier Natalia Kochanova, Education Minister Mikhail Zhuravkov, chairman of the Belarusian council of university rectors, rector of the Belarusian State Economic University Vladimir Shimov.