The importance of family education is a priority for the state
In modern times specialists, involved in childhood protection closely cooperate with representatives of other state bodies, daily saving the opportunity for a child to grow in a family. The key component there is knowledge and implementation of the national law.
Today, on the basis of the Academy of Postgraduate Education, a seminar-meeting was held at which specialists from the main education departments of the regional executive committees, the Education Committee of the Minsk City Executive Committee, who oversee guardianship issues, the heads of regional and Minsk socio-pedagogical centers, together with representatives of the Ministry of Health and The Ministries of Labor and Social Protection discussed the issues of family placement of orphans and children left without parental care, as well as problematic issues of accompanying graduates of children's residential institutions.
Alexander Kadlubai, deputy Minister of Education stressed on the importance of creation of a solid system for training foster parents, adoptive parents, accompanying foster families. It is necessary to enhance a system of children’s residential care facilities, which continues to function in terms of optimization and decrease of pupils of orphanages and boarding schools.
New edition of the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus set forth priority of child upbringing in a family, made state support of families with kids as well as support of orphans and kids left without parental care, mandatory.
Adopted in July last year, the National Action Plan for the Improvement of the Status of Children and the Protection of Their Rights identified as one of the priorities the development of family forms of placement for the upbringing of orphans and children left without parental care.
The program of socio-economic development of the Republic of Belarus, the state programs "Health of the people and demographic security", "Education and youth policy" provide for the state provision of orphans, the creation of conditions for raising such children in families, including construction and maintenance at the expense of the republican and local budgets of special residential premises of family-type orphanages, payments for the maintenance of children in foster families.
“Helping families who adopted orphans is an important priority of the state family policy together with support of large families and families raising children with disabilities. Our task is to determine the practical way of realization of the law” – says Alexander Kadlubai.
The ministry of education does systematic work on the development of family forms of orphan’s placement including the main task that is adoption.
In Belarus, the rate of family placement of orphans remains high at 84,7%. The number of adopted kids with disabilities increased.
The participants of the thematic event also benefited from the regional experience in supporting graduates of children's residential institutions, as well as in the formation of professional self-determination and social experience of pupils of the state educational institution "Volkovysk Orphanage".
An important fact was also noted at the seminar-conference: today more than 95 percent of graduates of children's boarding schools receive professional education.
The system of their support in the first years of independent life is based on the principles of interdepartmental interaction with labor, employment and social protection authorities.
“It is the territorial centers of social services for the population that become the main assistants for young people when they arrive at their place of work and live in assigned residential premises or in social housing. Our task within the framework of post-boarding cooperation is not to lose orphaned graduates, but to support them in the first years of independent life. This will allow the children to create families and become worthy citizens of the country and not to repeat the unfavorable life scenario of living in dysfunctional families,” summed up Deputy Minister of Education Alexander Kadlubay.