Lukashenko wants most talented, promising school leavers to stay in Belarus

The most talented and promising prospective university students should be in demand in their home country. Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko made the statement during the government conference held on 21 September to discuss ways to improve the education system, BelTA has learned.

Approaches to final exams in secondary schools and to admission to higher education institutions were high on the agenda. According to the president, a lot of sociological surveys have been conducted to find out what all the participants of the university admission process (prospective students, parents, pedagogues) think about the matter and how the education process in secondary schools and higher education institutions should be organized.

Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “Frankly speaking, I've accepted the Education Ministry's proposals on changing the university admission procedure (we've been through that this year), provided we will revisit the issue once again. When the commission in charge of overseeing the university admission campaign presents its conclusion, when other oversight agencies speak up, and when pedagogues talk about advantages and possibly shortcomings. I bet heavily on it, this is why I've invited such a broad circle of professors and teachers.”

The president continued: “I'd like to hear a principled evaluation of the new university admission system. Has it allowed us to see every prospective student? Has it enabled equal treatment of the prospective students as well as equal conditions and opportunities for getting education in higher education institutions? It is a question of utmost importance.”

Aleksandr Lukashenko also wondered whether specialists and pedagogues have any suggestions for improving the existing procedure in addition to these novelties.

“Here and now we have to determine how secondary schools and higher education institutions are supposed to operate in the future and tackle the key task: enable conditions for professional development and establishment in their own country for young Belarusians. I emphasize: the most talented and promising prospective students have to be in demand here, in the Motherland. It is my iron rule,” the Belarusian leader stated.

Continuing the line of thought, he recalled a recent visit to the National Children's Technopark: “Once again I made sure that we have truly many smart kids, who love Belarus. We just have to support them, show them the perspective of self-realization and career advancement. To put it plainly, we have to set them on the true course.” If things happen differently and some of the kids deviate from this course, then the blame lies on the adults, who are nearby them, to a significant degree, Aleksandr Lukashenko believes. “We are to blame for all the faults in this regard. We are guilty. The kids are not,” he is convinced. “Or some of us cannot think straight and veer off the road.”

“This is why let's start by looking at ourselves. But there must be no drastic decisions after our meeting today,” Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed. “All the opinion surveys indicate that school teachers, university professors, and students are tired of our unceasing attempts to improve the education system in a revolutionary manner. It is time to stop doing that.”