A. Lukashenko signed the Education Code

On January 14, Minsk /BelTA correspondent/. On January 13, 2011, the Head of State Alexander Lukashenko signed the Education Code, adopted by the House of Representatives and approved by the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus. This was reported to a BelTA correspondent by the press service of the Belarusian leader. The Education Code is based on the current laws ("On Education", "On Vocational Education", "On Education of Persons with Psychophysical Development Disabilities (Special Education)", "On General Secondary Education", "On Higher Education"), Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus No. 15 of July 17, 2008 "On Certain Issues of General Secondary Education" and is aimed at comprehensive and systematic regulation of public relations in the sphere of education. The Code provides for the creation, on the basis of established legal institutions, of a unified, holistic mechanism for the legal regulation of educational relations, ensures the systematization and ordering of legal norms, a reduction in the number of normative legal acts in this area, as well as the elimination of other existing shortcomings in the regulation of educational relations. At the same time, the norms of the Code ensure the continuity of legal regulation of the educational sphere and do not provide for conceptual changes in these relations. Structurally, the Code consists of a general and a special part, which consistently and systematically set out established and proven legal norms, as well as norms demanded by the current state of educational relations. The education system established in practice is enshrined. According to the Code, education is divided into basic education (includes levels of preschool, general secondary, vocational, secondary specialized, higher and postgraduate education), additional education (additional education for children and youth, additional education for adults), special education. The document defines the subjects of educational relations, which include students, legal representatives of minor students, pedagogical workers, educational institutions, organizations and individual entrepreneurs who have been granted the right to carry out educational activities (including the educational fields where they can carry out such activities), and establishes the rights and obligations of all subjects of educational relations.

The Code defines pedagogical workers (teaching staff) and establishes the requirements for them. It is stipulated that pedagogical activities cannot be carried out by persons who have been deprived of the right to engage in pedagogical activities, have a criminal record, are declared legally incompetent or have limited legal capacity, or do not have the right to engage in pedagogical activities in cases established by legislative acts. General conditions for the emergence of educational relations, as well as general requirements for the admission of persons for education, have been defined. In this regard, the rules for admitting persons for secondary specialized education, first-cycle higher education, and postgraduate education will be approved by the President of the Republic of Belarus, while the rules for admission for vocational-technical education and second-cycle higher education will be approved by the Government. Measures of social protection for students have also been established, including those related to textbook use, provision of meals, healthcare, scholarship payments, provision of dormitory accommodation, provision of preferential loans for the payment of first higher education, and transport provision. The conditions and grounds for bringing students to disciplinary responsibility, as well as the procedure for applying disciplinary sanctions (reprimand, admonition, expulsion), have been regulated. The Code enshrines the requirements for the organization of the educational process for each type of education (requirements for the duration of the academic year and holidays, types of training sessions, number of hours allocated for practical training, size of study groups (classes), and others). The grounds for changing and terminating educational relations have been defined, and the procedure for reinstating persons expelled from educational institutions has been regulated. Furthermore, the document regulates the procedure for granting students leave, which is divided into academic leave, childcare leave until the child reaches the age of three, and leave for military service. A clear list of documents on education and training has been defined, as well as the specifics of issuing documents on education of a special sample (with honors or with a medal). A new document on education has been introduced – a researcher's diploma, which will be issued to persons who have successfully completed postgraduate studies (adjunct studies). The conditions and procedure for the distribution of graduates have also been established.The Education Code of the Republic of Belarus will come into force on September 1, 2011 (from the new academic year) and will allow the completion of the codification of education legislation, ensuring a more complete alignment of legal norms with the current state of educational relations.-0-

BELTA