Belarussian State Pedagogical University with support from the Ministry of Education hosted the 3rd International scientific and practical conference “Socio-pedagogical and psychological support of parenthood: experience, problems, prospects”.

More than 140 scientists, practitioners and leaders of educational institutions took part in the conference. This year participants came from five countries: Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and China.

During the plenary meeting and sections experts discussed current issues of family values formation, upbringing in a family, Psychological and pedagogical support for parents as well as working experience and prospects of realization of “Parental University” Republican project.

Tatyana Osmolovskaya, a consultant of the main department of educational work and youth policy of the Ministry of Education stressed that pedagogy friendly parents play an important role in educating a healthy child with high self-esteem and developed adaptation skills, this plays an integral role in future socialization in the society.

“Family plays an important role in the life of the state, in educating new generations, ensuring social stability and progress. The most important social function of the family in the upbringing and development of children is the socialization of the younger generation. The importance of the family as an educational institution is due to the fact that the child stays in it for a significant part of his life. Parents are the first teachers of their children; they lay the foundations for the physical, intellectual, and moral development of the individual,” Tatyana Osmolovskaya is convinced.

Teachers see that in modern conditions of socio-economic transformation, the institution of family and marriage is undergoing significant changes. The way of life of the family, generally accepted norms of behavior, the nature of marital relationships, and the relationship between parents and children are changing. There are changes in the value orientations of the family, its role in preserving the continuity of traditions between generations, a decrease in efficiency in interaction between generations in the family, and in the responsibility of parents for the maintenance and upbringing of children.

Another serious point is the weakening of the educational potential of the family. In this regard, according to the representative of the department, solving the problems of family education largely depends on the targeted pedagogical training of parents, which involves increasing their level of pedagogical culture.

“The pedagogical education system should be focused on solving strategic problems, primarily on a radical restructuring of the education of the younger generation through changing the attitude of parents to education and its effectiveness,” emphasized Tatyana Osmolovskaya.

Rector of BSPU Alexander Zhuk confirmed the fundamental postulate that family and its values are the most important foundation on which a person’s life is built: “The formation of the personality of a citizen, a patriot, begins in the family. Speaking at the Republican Pedagogical Council, the President of our country, Alexander Lukashenko, noted that working with families and supporting parents is a very delicate work that must be carried out in all spheres of a person’s life.”

By decision of the Ministry of Education, in 2021, the republican project “Parent University” was launched and is being implemented in Belarus, which includes three categories of students and works with their parents: “My child is a junior student,” “My child is a teenager,” and “My child is a high school student.”

By the way, this project is in many ways a continuation of the previous republican project, which was called “Healthy Family – Healthy Nation”. According to the rector at BSPU, it was implemented over three years in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health and a number of other departments.