18 September, Minsk /BELTA correspondent/. A new project of the Ministry of Education and the Belarusian Orthodox Church has been launched in Belarus, the Belarusian Exarchate informed BELTA correspondent. An innovative platform "Implementation of a Model for the Formation of Spiritual and Moral Qualities of Students of General Secondary Education Institutions within the Framework of the Cooperation Programme between the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Belarus and the Belarusian Orthodox Church" has been opened in Minsk at Gymnasium No. 11 named after Chernyakhovsky and Secondary School No. 70 named after Gurtiev. As explained by the Exarchate, it is planned to combine the experience of the spiritual and educational projects "LOGOS" at Gymnasium No. 11 and "Life-Giving Spring" at School No. 70. It has been decided that the priority areas of the project are the development and testing of existing programmes for elective courses and extracurricular activities for their subsequent approval, as well as the implementation of extracurricular activities with students, such as the creation of a theatre studio, a choir, and a volunteer movement. "The innovative project provides for the possibility of other general secondary education institutions joining it in the future," the BOC added. In addition, the Exarchate reported that the Russian Orthodox Church, under whose jurisdiction the Belarusian Exarchate is also located, has published draft documents on the organisation of Orthodox preschool education. These drafts have been posted on the Internet for discussion by the church pedagogical community. Proposals and comments will be accepted on the website of the Department of Religious Education and Catechesis of the ROC. -0-

BELTA