The issue of increasing salaries for teachers and medical workers is being considered in Belarus

6 August, Minsk /BELTA/. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has reiterated his demand for an increase in wages for employees in the education and healthcare sectors. He stated this on 5 August during a report by the Minister of Education Alexander Radkov, BELTA was informed by the press service of the head of state. Currently, the government is working on the issue of increasing wages for all employees in the education and healthcare systems. The head of state has been briefed on the results of previously given instructions for the comprehensive development of the education system. In this regard, the main focus was on the development of general secondary schools and their readiness for the new academic year. Alexander Lukashenko has instructed to improve the teaching of foreign languages to schoolchildren. It is planned to increase the number of foreign language classes by one hour per week and to introduce a mandatory exam in this subject upon completion of secondary school. At the same time, the President noted that this change should not be detrimental to other academic subjects. A certain balance of subjects has been established in the school curriculum, and it is undesirable to disrupt its stability. Alexander Lukashenko also considers it necessary to enhance the physical training of students, focusing on conducting physical education and labour training classes on the sixth day of the week. Physical education classes help to form personal qualities such as willpower, result-orientation, and inner discipline. The head of state has also been briefed on the readiness for the start of the academic year. This year, 10 new kindergartens and 9 new modern schools, equipped with everything necessary for a high-quality educational and upbringing process, are being opened in the country. Capital repairs of educational institutions are being completed. This year, Br375 billion has been spent on all measures for their preparation for the new academic year. Alexander Lukashenko drew attention to the problem of small schools, where it is difficult to provide quality education. In addition, the costs of educating one student in such a school are twice as high compared to a regular school. The President has set the task to consistently consolidate schools and organise student transportation.

A whole block of issues concerned the structure of personnel training. As the Minister of Education noted, about 40% of students in the country are trained in blue-collar professions annually, 30% receive secondary vocational education, and 30% receive higher education. According to him, this is a European indicator. At the same time, according to Alexander Radkov, due to the active development of IT technologies in Belarus and the high demand for IT specialists, there is a need to increase training in this area. The President instructed to carefully work through this issue and consistently increase the training of specialists whose demand is currently the highest and is economically feasible. Other issues were also considered. The Head of State set clear tasks for the systematic, qualitative development of the entire education system. The President was also informed about the activities of the public association "Belaya Rus", which already has over 100,000 members. The association's immediate plans include developing a network of public reception offices, focusing on working with people, and involving the most active and proactive individuals in public activities.

BELTA