News & Events in Belarus

Lukashenko describes talented, smart people Belarus’ greatest treasure

MINSK, 1 September (BelTA) – Talented people, the intellect of the nation represent the greatest treasure for Belarus. Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko made the statement as he visited the National Children’s Technopark in Minsk on Knowledge Day, BelTA has learned.

Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “It is a great temple of the most promising, smartest, most advanced, and most literate people. You are not children. You are already adults. Your knowledge and even experience – all of it together indicates that you are adult people. It is the thirst for new knowledge that has brought you, gifted and talented people to our national technopark.”

How was the idea to create the technopark born?

Aleksandr Lukashenko explained how the idea to create such an institution was born during a visit to the Russian center Sirius in Sochi: “And this idea fell on prepared soil. I had visited the place several times and had learned the center inside out. And President of Russia Vladimir Putin was my guide. He was the initiator of creating the Sirius center in Sochi. Back then I told him that it would be a good idea to create a similar technopark in Belarus and I would like Sirius to provide support. He gave the instruction right away. And thus, we started setting up this center here while relying on Russia’s experience first and foremost and then on the entire world experience.”

The president went on saying: “I should tell you that it is only the beginning. I know that the number of people willing to study here and get more sophisticated, more advanced knowledge is considerably larger. If talented people remain overboard (three people per seat), then it is necessary to expand this technopark to such limits and capabilities, which will allow all the kids, who want to get more contemporary knowledge and more advanced knowledge, to enjoy this opportunity.”

Work for the benefit of the native country

The president also stressed that it is important for the graduates of the National Children’s Technopark to work for the benefit of their own country and remember the country later on: “I want you to live in the land that have nurtured you. It is certainly worrying me,” he said.

“Although I understand that you are people of the future, people of science. And science cannot be restricted to confines of even the largest and most advanced state these days. Science is international. It has always been like that. And science has development prospects only if it is international. But wherever you may be, you have to remember that it is your land. That this land has done everything for you to grow up to be literate and sophisticated people and to be able to work in any country,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

Commercialization of inventions

The head of state remarked that the current students of the technopark are kind of pioneers because for two years they have been practicing and testing and looking for better ways to do things in this institution. “And this year you study here, you get knowledge and practice as contemporary people. One can say as people, who are originators,” he said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko also drew attention to the commercialization of results of the work of the technopark students. “You are no longer little kids. You create some product. I say ‘some’ because I don’t know whether the market will like it and whether you can sell it. But we will do everything and will help you if you devise something, if you invent something useful for manufacturing sector, for our country. Something for manufacturing sector, agriculture, transport, communications, and so on. We will buy this product from you as a matter of priority with pleasure,” the Belarusian leader assured.

“In other words, today you have to make and sell, commercialize your knowledge,” he stressed.

Belarus’ greatest treasure

According to Aleksandr Lukashenko, by creating this technopark the country looked beyond the horizon among other things. One of the first instructions the president gave back in the day was to create a foundation for supporting gifted and talented youth.

The president said: “I’ve always said and I say it today: talented people, the intellect of the nation represent the greatest treasure for Belarus. If we have such people, we will overcome any challenges. We may do without large supplies of oil and natural gas. You also contribute to the lasting sovereignty and statehood. You are the future as a general matter. You are the smartest and you have proven it. At this stage of life you’ve proven that you are smart people and would like to get more knowledge. In literally a few years you will have to rule this country, protect this country, and raise your kids in this land. And even if some leave the country for some time, they will come back with new knowledge.”

Aleksandr Lukashenko stated that Belarus is home to very hardworking, disciplined, and goal-oriented people. Continuing the line of thought, he cited a number of historical facts: “Think about it! Back in 1944 the war was still ablaze, a third of the population had died, virtually all our cities and towns and villages lied in ruins, roads and bridges were destroyed while restoration work was already in progress in Minsk. Our brotherly republics, which were part of the Soviet Union then, provided immense aid to us. An automobile plant was built. About three years later, in 1947 it made the first MAZ trucks. Two years later the first MTZ tractor rolled off the assembly line of Minsk Tractor Works (MTZ). Colossal efforts were needed to make it happen. It was in Minsk that the first batch-produced Soviet computing machines had been made. It is not the kind of desktop computers you have today. Those powerful computers occupied a huge building. For the generation that still remembered the horrors of that war it was a genuine feat of intellect and labor. And we, Belarusians are proud of having accomplished the impossible.”

New accomplishments “on the shoulders of giants” and the key goal

Addressing the kids, the president noted that for now they make only timid steps into the captivating world of knowledge and discoveries but they have to remember that modern knowledge did not come out of nowhere: “You stand on the shoulders of giants, as the classic put it. You stand on the shoulders of those, who discovered this knowledge once. And we can say with pleasure names of people like Zhores Alferov, Pavel Sukhoi, Mikhail Vysotsky and other compatriots, who are famed far and wide.”

Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “May all the examples I’ve mentioned become your guiding beacon in life. They could do it and you will definitely be able to become the first and will inscribe your names into the history of science and the history of your fatherland if you stay faithful to your destiny and scientific truth. Thanks to you and your peers, who demonstrate extraordinary skills, a genuine youth scientific center has been established in Belarus. I believe in you and am convinced that today I talk to future Belarusian academicians, inventors, and creators of new products, which will find their place on world markets.”

The head of state urged the students to aim for great goals and create in the name of peace: “You should see the key goal in front of you: peace and a sky full of light above your head.”

Aleksandr Lukashenko stated that it is the way of life that one generation replaces another and every new generation is intent on creating conditions for the life of the next one, for the life of their kids. “And remember, I repeat once again: your country really needs you! I congratulate you and all the Belarusian school students, university students, and cadets represented by you on Knowledge Day,” the president said.

A temple of knowledge and the most difficult period in one’s life

The head of state reminded that education institutions are temples of knowledge. “And order must always reign supreme in this temple. No antics must be tolerated here. These are the strictest laws. You come to learn, to acquire knowledge. Learn and acquire knowledge so that you wouldn’t roam the streets when you are 30-40 years old and shout: ‘Give me the salaries as big as theirs!’ There is always the question: let’s look at how diligently you studied in school, how you mastered and acquired new knowledge, how you lived this life at all. And when you look at a person, who shouts loudest in the street, it turns out that he or she didn’t go to school at all. And if they did, they didn’t go every day. And they didn’t go to school for knowledge. They went there to have some fun, to shout and make noise,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

The president stressed that studying involves a lot of work. “Guys, no other period in your life will be harder than this one. Everything else will be much easier if you set your life on the right course. You will go to work like you go on vacation if you set the right course. Things will be easier later on. It is difficult now. And it is very important for you to live through this difficult period of life. A lot depends on us, parents and pedagogues. But more depends on you. You did great. You took risks. I congratulate you and wish you every success on this difficult path,” he said.

The head of state wished the kids good health and urged them to live an active life, spend more time in sport grounds. “In short, keep moving! In everything. In sport and in life. While studying. If you need my support, contact me. We will definitely help you. We will help because you’ve taken risks. You have become the first ones and it is worthy of respect,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

As a Knowledge Day gift to the technopark Aleksandr Lukashenko presented a certificate for a minibus, which will help the kids get faster to various offsite events within the framework of the curriculum. He also promised that if the technopark earns at least half of the cost of another bus like that, then the government will surely cover the rest of the cost.

The president said that when he was getting familiar with materials concerning the technopark, he found out a surprising and pleasant thing. It turns out that the number of technopark students from the regions is higher than the number of students from Minsk. “I don’t want to diminish the role of Minsk and Minsk residents. Certainly, they live in a completely different city. They have many more opportunities than the kids in oblast capitals and the schools you go to have. But the fact that you, regionals have reached the level of Minsk and have exceeded it makes me glad. May you overcome Minskers and may Minskers resist,” the Belarusian leader said.

Sovereignty and independence

As the first president of independent Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko wished for the current talented and gifted kids, students of the technopark to be followed by others: “It is even more important than the fact that you are pioneers today. I would like you to grow to be decent citizens of our Belarus.”

He noted that the history had gifted sovereignty to Belarus and its people unexpectedly and accidentally to some extent. It is now necessary to preserve sovereignty. “It is the first time we’ve become an independent state as far as it is possible,” the president said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko explained that independence is a relative term because there are no absolutely independent countries in today’s world. It is true even for the largest, most powerful, and most advanced countries, which need support and allies one way or another. “This is why independence is a relative term. But we have this independence and we have sovereignty. We have to preserve it so that we would never allow the generations that will follow us to be enslaved. If we have more people like you, we will definitely never be enslaved and will not wear bast shoes,” he is convinced.