The system for conducting the university admission campaign and school examinations must convince people of its fairness. This was stated by the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, while hearing a report on the admission campaign, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.
The report to the President was attended by Vice-Premier Natalia Petkevich, who heads the state commission for monitoring the progress of preparation and conduct of the admission campaign, First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Vladimir Pertsov, Minister of Education Andrei Ivants and Chairman of the State Control Committee Vasily Gerasimov. Each of them presented information to the Head of State in their respective areas.
"Regarding the essence of our conversation. Nuances, of course, are important, so we will touch upon the nuances of our admission campaign. But the most important thing is that our conversation should demonstrate to people, to the population, that we are keeping the process of organizing university entrance examinations and examinations for the completion of secondary and basic education levels under close scrutiny at the highest level. That is, schools and universities. Especially admission to universities. We are well aware of the significance of this event for a responsible family. We have been through it ourselves. It is very important to ensure a system that would convince our people of the fairness of this campaign," said Alexander Lukashenko.
"I have no doubt that it will be fair. Although it wasn't unfair either," the President added.
"It wasn't," Vasily Gerasimov confirmed.
"It is simply necessary for parents and applicants to understand that everything will be fair. There is no need to resort to any tricks. You should come to the examination room with your knowledge. Knowledge plus luck - and you will study at a university. At least, if there is any chance occurrence, we, Natalia Vladimirovna, will think about how to avoid these chance occurrences. And if something happens, we must see that too - to look at those people who may turn to us so that we can take another look at their knowledge. Surely, somewhere we will miss someone. But we should not miss anyone. In this situation, we must not offend families and, most importantly, the young person who is embarking on a normal life path," the Head of State demanded.
Alexander Lukashenko inquired about the centralized examination and whether this innovation had proven effective. "If it has, in what way? Be completely frank. If mistakes were made, this situation must be rectified. It must not be glossed over under any circumstances, as this is a very serious matter," he emphasized.
As reported to the President, the admission campaign this year has not undergone significant changes and is proceeding according to the established algorithm. "However, there is a shortfall, albeit small (one and a half to two percent), in budget-funded places. We must take measures to ensure these places are filled. After all, we are training specialists at the state's expense who are crucial for the national economy. How are the Ministry of Education and the government working in this regard? What has been done, and what needs to be done?" the Head of State asked.
The President reiterated his demand for transparency in the admission campaign. According to him, it is important not to miss the opportunity to see each applicant. "We talk about this a lot. All of this is good – centralized examinations, testing, and so on. But we ourselves remember the process of taking exams and view it positively when a teacher and an applicant sit opposite each other, and the teacher sees this applicant. Has everything been done to ensure this transparency? This is the main element of fairness," stated the Belarusian leader.
Alexander Lukashenko also inquired about the benefits provided to applicants and the objectivity of this process. "I know you. You, sitting at this table, are not only educated people but also excellent students. And you can all assess from your perspective: here are the knowledge, knowledge, if you don't know, get out, and so on and so forth. But in the end, you remember when we graduated from universities, those who were weaker, based on these criteria, turned out to be stronger than those excellent students who passed the exams. Therefore, I would like to hear your assessment here," said the Head of State.
The President noted the positive experience in promoting vocational and technical education among young people. Applicants are eager to enroll in colleges, and enrollment numbers there are growing.
"This is good and cannot but please. What additional measures need to be taken to encourage people to pursue vocational and technical education? Perhaps measures need to be taken at my level as well?" Alexander Lukashenko clarified.
According to the information presented to the Head of State, it is planned to admit 28 thousand people to vocational education this year, which is 1.2 thousand more than in 2024.