Today a republican seminar "On the provision of psychological assistance to participants in the educational process" took place in the State Educational Institution "Secondary School No. 23 of Minsk". It was attended by heads of structural divisions of regional, city, district executive committees, local administrations of districts in cities exercising state authority in the field of education, regional (Minsk City) socio-pedagogical centers, representatives of regional (Minsk City) institutions for the development of education , representatives of district (city) educational and methodological rooms supervising the activities of educational psychologists, methodological associations of educational psychologists.

The topic of providing psychological assistance to participants in the educational process is very important, and, first of all, for overcoming many difficult situations. To prevent tragic incidents with students, to prevent conflicts in the children's environment, to prevent violence, professional burnout - everything is possible with a competent approach and the participation of a teacher-psychologist.

“It is important for the head of the education authority of each educational institution to organize the timely referral of children, parents, teachers to a psychologist, create a network of psychological assistance, and ensure its staffing,” said Minister of Education Andrei Ivanets.

In the 2022/2023 academic year, in institutions of preschool, general secondary, vocational and secondary specialized education, about 90% of the rates are staffed, 10.4% temporarily consists of part-time workers.

There are 149 regional, city and district socio-pedagogical centers having in total 432 educational psychologists.

Since 2019, the Republican Center for Psychological Assistance created a network of 127 crisis psychologists in the regions.

In the previous year admission in the specialties and areas of specialties of a psychological orientation at the level of the first stage of higher education was done by 13 educational institutions.

Last year, 116 young specialists were sent to educational institutions, who received education in the specialties "Practical Psychology", "Psychology".

Taking into account the real need of educational institutions for psychologists and social pedagogues, the admission of 2023 graduates for higher education on the conditions of targeted training will be expanded.

The urgency of creating a favorable psychological environment in schools and colleges, preventing violence among adolescents and children of primary school age, and forming intolerance towards manifestations of cruelty and violence in pedagogical collectives does not decrease. The pilot project to create a friendly environment, being implemented in 26 schools, is aimed at introducing a model for countering violence, which makes it possible to reduce the manifestations of bullying among students by 2 times.

As the head of the department emphasized, the state policy of family placement of orphans and children left without parental care, implemented in the Republic of Belarus, confirms its effectiveness. Today, 88% of these children are being raised in foster families. In this regard, our task is not only to create foster families, but also to provide them with constant psychological support.

The seminar also discussed issues of interagency cooperation in providing psychological assistance to participants in the educational process. Among participants were representatives of the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Belarus, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Republican Scientific and Practical Center for Mental Health of the Ministry of Health.

The Academy of Postgraduate Education, the Republican Institute of Vocational Education, the National Center for Adoption, the Institute of Psychology, the Republican Center for Psychological Assistance and the Social and Pedagogical Center of the Leninsky District of Minsk provided the work of 6 thematic sections, where the experience of providing psychological assistance in educational institutions of various types was presented.

Today, at the seminar, we considered the main topical areas of providing psychological assistance to participants in the educational process. It is obvious that there should be no pause in improving the quality and effectiveness of such assistance.

The requirements for the organization of the work of psychologists are very high, because often children's fates literally depend on their words and deeds.

The task of managers at all levels is to introduce the best work algorithms, the best practices of psychologists, to provide material and moral support for these specialists.

The Ministry of Education plans to update a number of regulatory legal documents and work algorithms during the 2023-2024 academic year to make the provision of psychological assistance more efficient.