Education system in the Republic of Belarus
Higher educational institutions of the Mogilev region
Education is a strategic State asset. The Republic of Belarus belongs to the group of countries with a high level of Human Development Index. The adult population literacy rate in Belarus has never been low, reaching 99.7% today. Upon indications of children enrollment in primary and secondary schools, Belarus has reached the level of the most developed countries on the planet. In the last few years, the state has allocated at least 5% of GDP for the educational system, which is not inferior to the funding allocation for the education sector in developed European countries.
In total, there are more than 8 thousand establishments of mainstream, additional and professional education in the republic, in which about 3 million children, pupils, students are trained and educated by more than 400 thousand workers or every tenth employed in Belarus.
The education system of the Republic of Belarus provides education for students at the levels of mainstream, extended and professional education.
Mainstream education includes the levels of preschool, general secondary, career and technical, secondary specialised, higher and postgraduate education.
Extended education is subdivided into education for children along with youngsters and for adults.
The classification of education levels in the Republic of Belarus corresponds to the International Standard Classification for Education (ISCED 2011). Accordingly, the principle of “lifelong learning” is applied in real terms.
Belarus has a well-developed system of preschool education. Although it is not mandatory, most children attend preschool before starting school. General secondary education in Belarus starts at the age of 6 providing for two levels: general basic and general secondary education. The course of the basic education is designed for 9 year old pupils, whereas the secondary one – for 11 year old pupils. Having successfully completed basic school, young people have the opportunity to continue their education in colleges, lyceums and vocational schools, where they can simultaneously receive secondary education and vocational training. Those who wish can receive a general secondary education by continuing their studies at school. The certificate of general secondary or secondary professional education is the main document that gives the right to enter a higher educational establishment.
Higher education includes more than 50 establishments (universities, academies, institutes) along with private providers of education. Annually the higher education establishments intake more than 60 thousand people, from which graduate more than 80 thousand specialists. Preparation of experts is carried out in 15 educational profiles, comprising 382 specialties of higher education of the first level and 331 specialties of higher education of the second level.
Students of higher education in Belarus can learn full-time or part-time, and can obtain a distance learning.
Higher education students get knowledge in the Russian and the Belarusian languages. For foreign citizens, training can be organised in English.
In this article, the activities of the universities of the Mogilev region are proposed to consider. Higher education establishments are located in the east of Belarus including economic, legal, technical, agricultural occupations.
Belarusian State Agricultural Academy, Gorki city, Mogilev Region
Today the Belarusian State Agricultural Academy is the largest multidisciplinary higher educational establishment with the agro-industrial direction among the CIS countries and Europe.
During its history, BSAA has trained more than 100,000 high end professionals for the country’s agro-industrial complex and other sectors of the national economy.
Today the BSAA is called “a city within a city”. There are 16 educational buildings, 14 student dormitories, a library with a book collection of more than one million copies, and a dining room for 800 people located on the territory of the academic campus.
The academy also includes the educational and scientific centre called “Experimental fields of the BSAA”, a training ground, a cascade of ponds, and other facilities. There is also a recreational facility, namely a Palace of Culture built for students’ leisure, as well as a sports complex with a stadium and a swimming pool.
The Belarusian State Agricultural Academy established itself as a leading choice in the republic within the development of international relations and active cooperation with leading foreign universities.
The Academy was given the status of a leading university in preparing specialists in the field of agriculture in the country’s national education system.
Belarusian-Russian University, Mogilev region
The Belarusian-Russian University is the largest regional scientific and educational centre comprising a lyceum and an architectural and constructional college. It also includes an institute of advanced training and personnel development.
The multifaceted activity of the scientific and pedagogical collective body of the university is aimed at training highly qualified personnel in technical and economic specialities. The university provides training for higher education specialists in the field of machine engineering, IT technologies, industrial and civil engineering, economics and management. The training is provided for 23 specialties of the primary level, 7 specialties of the secondary level of higher education according to Belarusian educational programs; 9 branches of training for bachelors and 2 branches of training for masters according to Russian educational programs. University graduates are in high demand at the enterprises of mechanical engineering, machine tool industry, instrument engineering, power industry, transport, construction, telecommunications industry and information technologies in the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation.
Mogilev State University named after A. A. Kuleshov, Mogilev region
For many years the university had been developed as a pedagogical establishment for preparing secondary school curriculum teachers almost across all disciplines along with specialists for preschool children’s establishments. In 1998 the university started training for other sectors of the national economy.
Today there are three teaching and laboratory buildings, three educational and sports facilities, a stadium, a workout gym along with rehabilitation centre, an educational and biological facility “Lyubish”, four dormitories and two dining rooms on the territory of the university. Also, the university has a cafe called “Labyrinth”, several museums, instant printing lab, information technology lab, educational TV lab, and more than 100 classrooms.
Scientific research of the faculty members is carried out mainly in accordance with the republican programs, orders of the Ministry of Education and the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Belarus. The university makes research on the following topics:
“Continuous training system for teachers following the conditions of academic organisations”;
“The Earth’s magnetosphere”; “Thin film optics”; “Archaeological sites of Belarus”; “Past and present in literature”; “Problems of the processes of adaptation to environmental factors of the human body ”, and others.
Mogilev Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, Mogilev
The Mogilev Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was established in 1948 as a retraining school for sergeants of the corps of the Main Directorate of Security on Railway and Water Transport of the USSR Ministry of State Security. In 2018, it received the status of a higher educational institution. Currently, the institute is the oldest educational institution in the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Recruitment to the Mogilev Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is carried out in the following specialties: Legal support of public security; Legal support of operational-search activity.
Graduates of the Institute are awarded the qualification “Lawyer” and the first officer’s special rank “Police Lieutenant”.
Belarusian State University of Food and Chemical Technologies, Mogilev
The Belarusian State University of Food and Chemical Technologies is the only higher educational institution in the Republic of Belarus that trains process engineers, mechanical engineers and economists for the food processing and chemical industries.
The university provides training of personnel of the highest scientific qualification through graduate school in 11 specialties. The university has a specialised Council for the defence of doctoral and master’s theses. MGUP is the leading university in the development of educational standards, curricula and programs, textbooks and teaching aids for food specialties.
For 40 years of activity, university teachers have trained more than 15 thousand specialists for the economy of Belarus and other states.
Machekin Sergey Nikolaevich,
Head of International Relations Department,
English teacher at the Department of Foreign Languages,
educational institution “Mogilev State University named after A. A. Kuleshov”.