Minister of Education Andrei Ivanets is on a working visit to the Gomel region.


Yesterday, the head of the department took part in a requiem meeting dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the tragedy in the village of Ola, which took place at the Ola memorial complex in the Svetlogorsk district.
A busy program for today as well. Thus, a visit to the Gomel Cadet School has already taken place, meetings have been organized with the pedagogical community of Gomel, Gomelsky, Vetkovsky and Dobrush districts at the Gomel State Pedagogical College named after L.S. Vygotsky.

There will also be a grand opening of the competency center at the Gomel State College of Culinary Arts.

During a constructive conversation with the directors of vocational education, schools and preschool institutions the parties discussed extensive thematic blocks, including the educational process, issues of civic-patriotic education and the election campaign.

It was noted that this Year of Quality is special both for the country and for the education system.

“The Head of State dedicated the first working meeting specifically to setting out the tasks that face each of us, the Government, the heads of educational institutions and every teacher. The task is clear and understandable - quality in everything, including from each of us,” the Minister emphasized.

The coming year is also quite serious for the education system. Before specific tasks were identified for the teaching community of the Gomel region, Andrei Ivanets proudly stated that, unlike many countries, Belarus has 100% coverage of children aged 5-6 years with free preschool education. And the development of preschool education is proceeding at an accelerated pace. Issues of walking distance in providing places in preschool educational institutions are being promptly resolved. More than a year ago, the Ministry of Education created an interactive map of all preschool education institutions in our country, which is posted on the department’s website as well as on all regional websites of education departments and is updated monthly. Every parent can access this up-to-date information.

An important issue voiced during the meeting is that this year all children with special needs will have access to buses. These will be new, modern buses of domestic production, equipped with appropriate convenient devices.

Educational process in schools needs its own approach. It is noted that each school should base its activities on 10 basic principles. Strict attention must be given to instilling a respectful attitude among students towards state symbols, developing children's and youth social movements and bringing the activities of museum pedagogy to a new level.

The head of the department clearly stated that a museum or museum exhibition is not a locked room: “An educational institution is the territory and space of museum pedagogy. And in this regard, the corresponding museum stands can be located in the foyer of each educational institution. I am sure that the topic of genocide of the Belarusian people and the Great Patriotic War concerns each of us. We must reach every child through his family to achieve an understanding that this was not someone’s war in a general sense but it has affected each family specifically.”

Teachers received a specific task: children must know what their great-grandfathers did during the Great Patriotic War? In which partisan units they fought? Whether they participated in hostilities? How they helped soldiers at the front? What activities they did in the rear? Interaction with parents is also important. Every child must understand that the history of the Great Victory is also his history, the history of his family, his native land in which he lives.

The Minister also discussed the issues of school career guidance, conscious choice of a future occupation and outlined preferential trajectories of admission to capital and regional universities for gifted and motivated students.

A very serious issue is preparing for a trial centralized exam. On January 27, all must be ready to go through it in order to pass the CE in May.

Among the important tasks are the retention of young specialists in the regions after their mandatory period of service and the creation of favorable conditions for work. It is necessary to avoid the outflow of Belarusian youth to other countries. According to the head of the department, if a young person comes to work in an educational institution, then with a warm heart and open eyes he should work in the system, give warmth and attention to children and master the invaluable experience of senior colleagues.

The Ministry of Education is working to ensure that the workload on young teachers is rationally distributed in terms of the educational and enlightenment component.

Answering questions about the upcoming challenges facing the national education system in the Year of Quality, the Minister of Education outlined the importance of implementing specific measures at all levels.

Thus, for preschool educational institutions, the priority task is the accessibility of education. These include issues of developing the material and technical base and developing new educational programs.

As for secondary schools, the department’s position is clear: every young person who leaves the walls of an educational institution must consciously make a choice of his educational trajectory and understand where his work will be in demand.

For colleges, the priority is the development of competence centers and the preparation of new specialties for the needs of the economy.

Universities do not stand aside either! Strict attention is paid to the structure of training of specialists. It is necessary to have an inextricable connection with those who order personnel.