21 February, Minsk /Yulia Vanina - BELTA/. To be eligible for free travel, a student must obtain a certificate of the established form from their educational institution. This was announced today at a press conference by Yuri Gladkov, Head of the Department of General Secondary Education of the Ministry of Education of Belarus, as reported by a BELTA correspondent. According to Yuri Gladkov, all students of general secondary education institutions in Belarus have been granted the right to free travel on regular urban public transport, urban electric transport, and the metro from their place of residence (stay) to their place of study and back, from September 1 to June 30. This right is provided by Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus No. 2002 of February 16, 2011, "On Certain Issues of Student Travel". Yuri Gladkov noted that the certificate must specify the child's specific place of residence or stay and place of study. The certificate does not require a photograph. "If the need arises to include a photograph in the certificate, we will consider the possibility of developing a certificate of a different form, which will include a photograph," he added. The Head of Department emphasized that students will only be entitled to free travel to and from the place of general secondary education. "This document does not provide for free travel for students to places of extracurricular education – to clubs, hobby groups, or societies, as well as to competitions or for other personal matters," he explained. According to the representative of the Ministry of Education, free travel for students is provided in fulfillment of the instruction given by the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, at the Fourth All-Belarusian People's Assembly. Yuri Gladkov also noted that the heads of vocational schools, secondary vocational schools, and higher education institutions can also provide financial assistance to needy students and pupils for public transport fares. -0-

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