President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has instructed to thoroughly re-examine the project for establishing a new educational centre in the country for training personnel in advanced fields. This was announced to journalists by Minister of Education Andrei Ivants on the sidelines of a meeting held by the Head of State, as reported by BelTA correspondent.
"At the meeting with the Head of State, issues concerning the establishment of a new educational centre, effectively a new university in the country, for training specialists in the most promising sectors for our economy were comprehensively discussed. Various viewpoints were expressed, with many arguments for and against. Therefore, the meeting concluded with the President giving instructions to thoroughly re-examine this issue with the widest possible scope and to submit proposals from the government to the Head of State in the shortest possible time," the minister stated.
"Despite the discussions, in conclusion, all parties agreed that the establishment of this educational centre should be considered a national project," emphasised the head of the education department.
Andrei Ivants noted that Belarus has a so-called golden fund of young individuals who are winners of international and republican Olympiads, laureates of the special fund of the Head of State, and graduates of the National Children's Technopark. "They are currently ready to study not just the first-year university curriculum, but to master this programme in leaps and bounds. For such individuals, we must create special experimental programmes that will not only be rich in serious fundamental theoretical knowledge but, most importantly, will be fully integrated with interaction with the real sector of the economy," said the minister.
This means that students of the proposed educational centre will, among other things, work on specific projects and tasks that need to be addressed in the domestic economy.
"The proposed model of education envisages that in the first two years, students of this educational centre will complete the entire four-year curriculum of a traditional university. Starting from the third year, they will work under an individual learning format on specific projects and tasks. This is a fundamental difference – the project-based and research-oriented principle of organising studies," explained Andrei Ivants.
This will create the necessary conditions for all gifted young people to remain in Belarus for further studies and subsequently meet the national economy's demand for highly qualified personnel.
"We are fully aware that our country is quite compact. To work with such young people, we must utilize the full potential not only of teachers but also of practical specialists and the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus," the Minister noted.