Belarusian Generation Y logbook

The first week of the academic year began with many people speaking about education in Belarus and what kind of changes should be made. The post introduces you to some of the topics discussed in Belarus at the beginning of September. Among them: introduction of the Educational Code; strengthening of ideological work; internships for students and university teachers; increase of scholarships and changes to study programs, etc.

Last week the Belarusian Minister of Education made a report at the meeting of the Presidium of Ministers. According to БЕЛТА, he lauded the current system of education in our country as he mentioned the dynamic development and compatibility with the systems of the most developed countries in the world. However, despite all achievements, the Minister pointed out the lack of laws regulating a number of spheres of basic and additional education. He also insisted on the necessity of creating a judicial background for the activities of some stakeholders. As a result, a decision was made to create an Educational Code, which in addition to solving the above mentioned problems will help in “forming social responsibility and culture of the citizens”.

The article, “Teachers to be Sent to the “Real Sector of Economy” for Internships”, mentions how the Deputy Prime Minister recently declared that Belarusian higher education must be more oriented to the real sector of the economy. The problem is that currently around 80% of teachers at universities do not have pr actical work experience and have studied their subjects only in theory. The decision stipulates that all teachers will have to do an internship at some enterprise. The same is to affect students. Until graduation all of them will have to do various internships (the first time after the third year of studies and second during the fifth year). The peculiarity here is that these internships are free of charge and in the case of the students it only has a symbolic character, since taking interns is imposed for the companies by the state. Thus, some people explain such a decision as an attempt by the state to bring free labor force to the declining economy.

Another argument for such internships is to prove teachers how far reality actually is from what they teach. At the moment there is a joke that when graduates come to work the first phrase they hear is: forget of what you were told at the university. Many companies, realizing that state of Belarusian education, enroll future employees for different courses while they are still studying.

Besides the problems of the real sector, higher education leaders think that additional attention has to be given to the inside world of students. “Within our system of education we should form a person with state views, high level of culture, feeling of pride for the history of the country and for the people, and for the state. We were glad to introduce a course of State Ideology at our educational institutions. We think it forms personality and brings up students as state people”. In other words, one can expect a strengthening of ideological work within Belarusian educational institutions.

Pre-electoral time is a lucky time for all those dependent on state budget. For instance, Russian media informs that promises for scholarships for students in Russia are to grow by 50% annually, and that this year it has already been raised from a monthly 600 Rub to 900 Rub (around 35$). In Belarus the last time scholarships were increased was in January 2007, before the elections of local governments.

“EHU: Political Science Beyond Ideology”. On the first day of the academic year, the European Humanities University (a Belarusian University in exile) distributed a press release with an open deadline for applications to two study programs in political science: “Democracy and Civil Society” and “European Studies”. The programs will prepare a new generation of professionals who will assist building a civil society in Belarus and will help the country to become an equal member of the European and international community. Starting this year, the program on civil society will be open not only for NGO activists but for anyone interested.

Last week generation.by also mentioned changes in the secondary school program on Belarusian literature. Belarusian literature classes were very important for a generation that finished secondary education during the 90s, when at school many forbidden and previously censored books were discussed. One of the most shocking changes is the removal of the legendary play “Tutejshyja”, by Janka Kupala, off the program. Janka Kupala is a well known Belarusian poet of the beginning of the 20th century. The play reveals the problem of national identity in Belarus at the time, which is often referred to as a stepping stone to Belarusian democracy. After reading the play people get astonished how accurate it resembles the current situation in the country. It is also upsetting that such an insulting move was made on the 125^th birth anniversary of one of the most cherished Belarusian cultural figures.

The topic of repressions and mass killings of the Belarusian national intelligentsia during 1930 to 1950 is not mentioned at all, as well as many famous historical novels written during the last quarter of the 20th century which give an alternative to the soviet variant of Belarusian history.

Instead of these books, pupils will have to study pieces written by modern pro-state authors who are currently holding official positions at different state institutions. The mentioned changes have raised a wave of discontent among Belarusian writers who call it a vivid censure and shameless attempt to impose pseudo-literature on young people.

Finally, the article “British diplomas reducing in value”, contends that the expansion of higher education in the UK has reduced the value of some degrees to zero, as more young people join the workforce as graduates. The article relates the discussion taking place in the UK around this issue, and the suggestions of the British government and institutions into solving it. The same problem is present in Belarus, the difference is that no one really looks into it or suggests any strategies how to solve it. Many students are choosing to study not according to the “call of the soul” but rather prefer to go into prestigious faculties hoping that it will secure their future income. It is also a tradition in Belarus to look at success not on the grades and academic results but on the connections of the parents of the students.