Alexander Lukashenko: Belarus should preserve current education system

MINSK, 8 June (BelTA) – President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko believes it is necessary to preserve the current education system. This is the major requirement, said President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko at a government session held on 7 June to discuss the development of higher education, quality of university education, and advisability of Belarus’ accession to the Bologna process. According to the head of state, the country had enough reforms in the area and now it is necessary to polish the system including the development of new textbooks. “We need a normal education system oriented at our economy, our society, our country. We needn’t run after anyone,” he said. “We needn’t break and destroy anything in the system. We should pursue the way we have chosen and improve the education system. We need to do it carefully and thoughtfully,” the President warned. Attending the session was Chairman of the Council of the Republic Anatoly Rubinov, Chairman of the National Council of the Rectors of Universities Vladimir Shimov and Education Minister Alexander Radkov. In June 1999 the education ministers of 29 European countries signed the Bologna Process. The document is officially supported by 47 states including Russia, Ukraine Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan. Belarus started the procedure of joining the Bologna Process by signing the Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European region (the Lisbon Convention). The issue was discussed at a session hosted by the President of Belarus in January 2005. A decision was taken then to introduce two-phase university education taking into account the peculiarities of the Belarusian education. Alexander Lukashenko drew attention to the fact that the declaration does not provide for any radical reforms in the education system of Belarus. The participants of the session were supposed to determine whether Belarus will need to reform the education system, whether the process is an evolutionary one, what requirements will be and whether the quality of university education will be affected. According to the Education Minister of belarus, among the benefits the Bologna Process offers will be the participation in developing promising educational and scientific programs, the ability to present Belarus’ own vision taking into account national interests. Besides, Belarus will be able to attract a larger number of students, exporting more educational services. The accession will also enable cooperation between universities as part of various programs. Belarus fulfills all recommendations of the Bologna Process. The university education has two phases. There are quality education programs. The general education standards meet requirements of the European quality management system ISO 9001. However, the President demanded that the juridical foundation, Belarus’ methods, and the system of interaction between European countries in matters of training professionals for the university education system and in matters relating to the development of the entire education system should be re-examined. The head of state would like the education system to primarily focus on quality at all stages, especially the education of top echelon specialists. The system should meet national interests, contribute to the development of the national economy, politics, preparation of people to life and work. The education system should have a solid state backbone and a healthy ideology. The Bologna Process is meant to bring closer and harmonize the education systems of European countries for the sake of creating a common higher education space.

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