Образование в Беларуси на английском языке

     • Employability is to ensure a stronger link between higher education and practice, since higher education which is purely based on technical contents is no longer considered adequate to meet the needs of professional practice.

     • Internationalisation strategies are designed to promote international mobility and convey intercultural skills.

     • Lifelong learning stands for further qualifications which employed persons acquire independently and for which universities offer demand-driven qualification programmes, a process which increasingly blurs the borders to traditional subject studies. The notion of lifelong learning is to enable and widen participation in higher education regardless of age, status or gender.

     • Acting with a view to quality and competitiveness: Trends which are making themselves felt already today will be prolonged in a quest for quality and competitiveness.

     New methods of teaching/learning

     The use of media (transparencies, posters, flipcharts) to visualise interrelations, and beamers including related software applications, electronic media for large-scale projections and videoconferencing.

     • Exemplary learning by experience, i.e. forms of knowledge transmission which consist in effective guidance towards a self-reliant acquisition of knowledge and a rational and critical handling of information using simulation and exercise studies in lectures, project work and project-oriented learning (POL) to replace structured ex-cathedra lecturing.

     • Study programmes which integrate different places of learning, e.g. dual study programmes which combine company-based training with university studies, or integrated study programmes for students with a professional background which combine three places of learning: the university, professional practice, and self-studies in a private setting.

     • Mobile learning (“ubiquitous” learning), i.e. exploiting mobile technologies which enable learning at any place, such as CD ROM-enabled learning, and Web-based teaching and learning.

     • Problem-oriented learning (POL), which employs teaching and learning methods for working on issues in small-size groups, is currently used in blended learning arrangements. POL wants to lead students to study specific issues independently in selected steps that are characteristic of a profession. Typical of POL, an exemplary learning process with a specific link to practice that is geared to interaction and self-reliance is triggered in small groups, and prompts different forms of student cooperation. By exemplary learning from experience, students are empowered to cope with tasks during their studies in a problem-oriented and interdisciplinary approach. 
 

     Text 3 Qualification Raising and Staff Retraining 

     Education of adults. Deviation from the command-and-control system of management required to review the role and place of the postgraduate staff education system, bringing it in compliance with the social and economic situation in order to adapt the existing postgraduate education system, considering prospects of the national economy development, to market requirements and thus ensure its effective functioning.

     Proceeding from the actual conditions of the Republic of Belarus, a decision was made to create, within the educational system, such educational institutions according to the levels of education where efforts will be concentrated on scientific support of this trend and on improvement of qualification and retraining of educational officials and specialists. For this purpose the Republican Institute of Vocational Education, the Republican Institute of Innovation Technologies were established within the Belarusian State Polytechnic Academy.

     There are 130 after graduation educational institutions where about 450,000 persons are retrained annually. Approximately 40,000 students are educated annually in 120 professional areas at 23 qualification and retraining educational institutions within the system of the Ministry of Education.

     The head organization in the qualification raising system is the Postgraduate Education Academy. It is charged with the functions of organising, scientific supervision, co-ordination and methodical supply of target training of scientific-pedagogical and scientific staff for regional institutes for qualification raising and retraining of education personnel. In the Academy, they established the data bank for advanced innovation methods and pedagogical experience on which basis the assistance is rendered to region and other institutes of qualification raising, to all teachers and pedagogues. The Academy computer network is connected to the International Internet Network.

     The state policy in the field of postgraduate education is based on the principles of complete satisfaction of educational institutions needs in highly qualified staff, drawing up efficient strategy of development of functioning mechanisms of the qualification improvement and retraining system, ensuring economic, legal, organizational and other warranties in this field.

     In compliance with the Law of Education in the Republic of Belarus, people have the right to obtain education independently, for this purpose people's universities, schools, including evening and correspondence departments of secondary special and higher educational institutions, the external system, various programs of retraining, qualification improvement for adults, etc. have been created. Adult self-education is also carried out with the aid of libraries and other information centers and public associations.

     Most scientific pedagogical investigations are performed in the National Institute of Education, the Republican Institute of Vocational Education, the Republican Institute of Higher School at the Belarusian State University, the Academy of Postgraduate Education and higher pedagogical educational institutions. 
 

     Text 4 The History of University Education in Belarus 

     The universities of Europe appeared during the Middle Ages in connection with the growth of cities, in Italy, Spain, France and England first universities were founded between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries. As for Russia's oldest universities, Moscow University was founded in 1755.

     Education and science have a very old tradition in Belarus. In the past Belarus formed a part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The oldest university in the Soviet Union was the Main School of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which dated from the sixteenth century and enrolled about 500 students in the beginning. It was renamed Vilnius University in 1579. During the Middle Ages the University had a preparatory faculty, the faculty of Arts, that prepared students for entering one of the three higher faculties - of Law, Medicine and Theology. Later this preparatory faculty was renamed the Philosophy faculty with Latin as the main language of instruction. Students studied seven liberal arts subjects consisting of the trivium of Grammar, Rhetoric and Dialectics, followed by the quadrium of Arithmetic, Geometry, Astronomy and Music. Students became Bachelors of Arts after finishing their trivium course. On completing tire quadrium, students were awarded a master's degree. At each higher faculty master's degree and doctor's degree were conferred in accordance to the requirements of a faculty.

     The University was a leader in many areas. In 1645 Vilnius University became the first university to recognize and adopt the Copernican view of the universe. A Ukrainian graduate of the University, Milenty Smotritsky, published the Old Church Slavonic Grammar. Another outstanding academician and professor of History, Philosophy and Rhetoric, Matsey Kazimezh Sarbevsky, was well known all over Europe for his Latin verses. The first works of Francis Skoryna were published by the Vilnius University Printing House, and in 1753 an observatory was commissioned which continues to function today.

     There were no institutions of higher learning on the territory of Belarus before the October Revolution. Vitebsk Pedagogical Institution and Mogilev Pedagogical Institution were founded in 1918. Vitebsk Architectural Institution functioned from 1918 till 1923. The Narkompros (the People's Committee on Education) passed a resolution in 1919 to open 15 new Soviet universities but the resolution was never implemented into life because it was the period of foreign intervention. The Belarusian Polytechnic Institution was opened in 1920; Vitebsk Veterinary Institution in 1924; and the Medical Institution in 1930.

     The Belarus State University was opened in 1921. The University consisted of the RABFAK (Pre-University Training subdivision for working youth), the Social Sciences Division (which trained lawyers and economists), the Medicine Division, the Agricultural Division and the Physics and Mathematics Division. The Division of Social Sciences opened its doors for the first time to 237 students. Later this division changed its name several times. Starting from 1925, it was called the Law and Economics Division, it had four brandies in it, namely: Industry & Administration, Planning & Statistics, Finance and Cooperative Societies. For the first time in many years, the republic got 85 graduates from this university to work in all spheres of industry, finance and credit.

     The Belarus State Economic University deserves the name "grandfather of the country's economists". The state's growing need for educated specialists was reflected in the Communist Party Central Committee Plenum resolution 'on national economic leadership' in 1929. The resolution stressed the importance of training of economists. In 1930, the Department of National Economy was formed which comprised five subdivisions, namely. Industrial Economics, Agricultural Economics, Planning, Statistics, and Cooperative Societies. The Department's student body accounted initially for about 300 students but the number rose to over 700 students by 1931.

     The Soviet of Peoples' Commissars of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic passed resolution #215 on July 7, 1931. It ordered to transform the Social Sciences Department into three independent institutions - the Economic Planning Institution, the Financial Planning Institution, the Institution of Consumers' Co-operatives. These three Institutions are the forerunners of our university. In the two years of their functioning, they trained 335 graduates, but there was still a lack of experienced economists in Belarus, it was partly because of the fact that the graduates were distributed across the entire Soviet Union, from Brest to Kamchatka and the Far East. On May 20, 1933, the Soviet of Peoples' Commissars of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic passed resolution #721 to form a new university which had to join these three Institutions. This date is the birthday of our university. Located in Minsk, this university was originally called the Belarusian State National Economy Institution. At the request of the University's faculty members, the government issued a decree to name the University after the distinguished economist V.V. Kujbyshev. The University carried this name from 1935 till 1992.

     With constantly succeeding reforms, the learning methods improved and the student body number increased. Better facilities and equipment also worked for success. Each year several graduates from the University took assignments to work for GosPlan BSSR (the Ministry of State Planning for BSSR). In fact, the University's graduates were distributed across all the country.

     During the Great Patriotic War the invading Fascist Army caused severe damage to the University. Many pre-war graduates did not survive the war; classroom buildings, laboratories, offices and equipment were destroyed and the library partly burnt.

     After World War II the University was restored. The SNK BSSR passed a resolution on the University reopening on October 28, 1944. Regular classes started in the premises of Secondary School #12 in March, 1945. When the University restarted its activity, only 12 faculty members gave classes for 54 students. The following year, however, there were already 38 staff members and 252 students. The library already had the collection of 6,000 books. In 1945, the Republican Council on

     Science awarded graduation diplomas to the first students of the pre-war alumnus class of 1941. First post-war graduates received their diplomas on March 2, 1946. This group numbered no more than 71 students, 22 of them fought in the battle-fields of the Great Patriotic War. From 1946 till 1950, 455 students graduated from the University. The main University's building (7 Sverdlov st.), started functioning on January 3, 1950. Those days one section of this building served as a dormitory for girl-students, for there was a constantly growing number of students those days. Today the University's premises complex comprises 8 students' dormitory buildings.

     We remember with respect the faculty members, veterans of the Second World War, who fruitfully worked for the University for many years. Among those outstanding professors are Belokhvostikov, Dudich, Frolov, Zubchenok, Lasovsky, Kulikov, Levanovich, Kuchinsky, Petukhov, Skuratovich, Tsygankov, Protaschik, Galchenja, Satsunkevich and others. Over 100 war veterans worked as teachers and employees for the University. Among them are Visjulin, Borovik, Gapanovich, Gnevko, Zakharov, Zavidova, Zarubin, Zjatikov, Zavjalov, Komlev, Kruk, Lisitsin, Myskov, Mitukov, Mavrischev, Milovanov, Nekhay, Osmolovsky, Pekun, Piko, Pusikov, Potaenko, Pominov, Surdo, Sapeshko, Svirjakin, Tolkachev, Tsvelodub, Tsygankov, Chentsov, Tschukovich, Bankov and many others.

     Our graduates are our pride, many of them went on to distinguished careers. An alumnus of the class of 1936, former BSSR Minister of Finance, Prime Minister of the State Planning Board, the deputy-chair of the Board of Ministers of BSSR, F. L. Kokhanov celebrated his 90th birthday on October 9, 2001; another alumnus, M.G. Tkachev (the class of 1939) became a writer, worked as the Secretary-in-chief for the Writers’ Union of BSSR, he was also the director of the 'Mastatskaja Literatura' publishing house. I.V. Protaschik (the class of 1947) fought as a partisan in World War II, made all the way to Berlin. After the war he did research for the Academy of Sciences' Chemistry Institute in the area of topochemical transformations and was honoured with the title of the 'Inventor Emeritus of the USSR' in 1980. His discoveries in lubricant materials saved the country a great deal of money. Among the graduates of 1949 is A. E. Gurinovitch, he was the Foreign Affaires Minister from 1966 till 1990. F.V. Borovik (the class of 1950) was the Rector of the University from 1969 till 1991. N.A. Sukhy (the class of 1953) was awarded the title of the 'Labour Hero of the USSR'. V.V. Miloserdov, Ph.D. in Economics, full member of the Soviet Union's Agriculture Academy, member of the Russian Academy of Sciences; later he served as the Director of the Science and Technology Experimental Complex for the Agro-Industrial Association of the Soviet Union. E. I, Krivejsha, Ph.D. in Economics, was awarded the title of the 'Honorary Professor of BSEU'. M.S. Kimjavsky (the class of 1957), Ph.D. in Economics, served as the President of the Entrepreneurs and Lessee Union; while I.N. Stashenkov (the class of 1957), Ph.D. in Economics and Honorary professor, served as the BSSR Minister of Trade.

     _{Text 5 International Relations}

 

     International activity is an indispensable part of the University life. Its major directions are as follows:

     • bilateral academic cooperation with overseas Universities and international foundations;

     • participation in international academic projects and programs together with overseas partners;

     • providing training courses to international students;

     • promoting the university abroad and analyzing relevant international information available on the Internet;

     • searching for new partners for carrying out joint academic projects.

     The University is constantly strengthening and expanding bilateral cooperation with the universities of Great Britain, Bulgaria, Vietnam, Germany, Spain, Italy, China, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, the Russian Federation, the U.S.A., Turkey, Ukraine, France, and Sweden. In accordance with bilateral agreements the University accomplishes academic exchanges of instructors and students, carries out research, publishes textbooks and manuals, participates in international scientific conferences, seminars and networking.

     The University does a lot as a member of the Association of European Universities and the European Fund on quality management.

     Supported by the Institute of enterprises management at the University Paris-1 Pantheon-Sorbonne 'France, the BSEU School of International Economic Relations established and successfully runs the Francophone, where students, alongside with the national diploma, are awarded Certificates issued by the Sorbonne.

     In partnership with overseas universities, the BSEU was implementing big international projects on the basis of the European Union grants: TEMPUS TACIS, TRANSFORM, Regional Academic Partnership supported by the fund «Know-How» and the British Council.

     On a permanent basis, in accordance with annually renewed agreements visiting lecturers from the USA (Civic Education and Fulbright programs), Canada (the «Leader» program), France and Germany come to teach at the University.

     The BSEU has been training international students for more than 25 years. Over 100 foreign citizens from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, the Baltic States and the CIS countries are trained annually at a specialized preparatory department, major schools and postgraduate courses.

     The University sends its undergraduate and graduate students for internships abroad and carries out the «Work and Travel» program providing the students with summer jobs abroad.

     Expanding geography of international relations and cooperation testifies to the recognition and growing reputation of the University in the international educational community.

     Text 6 Research Work

 

     The Belarus State Economic University is one of the leading centers of economic research in the country. Its departments carry out research in social and economic issues of forming market economy in the Republic of Belarus and the mechanism of its functioning. The areas of research include the problems of enterprise economics, management and marketing, accounting, analysis and auditing, statistics and price formation, finance and banking, commerce, and international economic relations.

     University researchers take an active part in developing legislation, programs and conceptions of the socioeconomic development of Belarus. They prepare reports, papers and analytical notes for the President's Administration and the Council of Ministers. They work in commissions, advisory panels and consulting councils whose activity is aimed at eliminating crisis phenomena in the national economy.

     The University possesses research schools of economics, accountancy, analysis and auditing, finance and banking, management, statistics, marketing, econometrics, and business law. Their existence facilitates efficient research and training scientific and teaching staff for the University and the Republic.

     The Boards on defending Ph.D. and post-doctorate dissertations specialize in six research areas. There is a postgraduate school (aspirantura) and postdoctoral research school (doctorantura). Postgraduate students are trained in seven majors by 25 departments of the University.

     The research findings of the University scholars are published annually in about 30 monographs and 50 textbooks and manuals holding an official recommendation of the Ministry of Education. The University organizes annually several international research conferences, in which both the University researchers and their colleagues from other Universities as well as from Poland, Spain, Germany, France, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia and Ukraine take part.

     The University publishes «The BSEU Bulletin» and the newspaper «The Economist». It is a co-founder of such journals as «Accountancy, Finance and Auditing», «Belarusian Economic Journal», and «Hermes».