Developments inside Belarus
State commission for preparing textbooks in the humanities and social sciences
Aliaksandr Lukashenka signed a decree establishing a state commission to prepare textbooks in the humanities and social sciences. This represents yet another instance of political interference in education and yet another effort to rewrite textbooks to align them with the “content of the ideology and principles of the historical policy of the Belarusian state”. In addition to academics and teachers, the process will reportedly involve government officials, members of parliament, representatives of the pro-government Belaya Rus party, and others.
Military training camps for 10th-grade students
On May 25, military training camps began for boys who had completed the 10th grade. This year, the training was extended to two weeks. A significant number of students are attending camps held in field conditions at military bases. The program includes firearms training, tactical exercises, drill training, physical training, and military medical instruction. There are also known cases in which girls, in addition to boys, were sent to military field camps. According to the Ministry of Education, students who fail to complete the training will not be promoted to the 11th grade. The introduction of military field training for minors is unprecedented in the history of education in Belarus and demonstrates that the level of militarization in schools now exceeds that of the late Soviet period.
State registry of private tutors
A draft resolution of the Council of Ministers has been prepared that will affect all self-employed individuals providing educational services to children. This includes not only academic tutors helping students prepare for university admission, but also instructors teaching drawing, music, or dance. Those not included in the registry will be prohibited from providing such services. The draft emphasizes that independent educational activities allegedly pose “risks to the social security and spiritual-moral values of the Belarusian people”. Particular attention is given to individuals convicted of so-called “extremist offenses”: regardless of how long ago the conviction occurred, they would be permanently barred from private teaching activities. This effectively eliminates one of the few remaining means of livelihood available to thousands of repressed university lecturers and school teachers.
Continued repression in academia
Aliaksei Sasnouski, an assistant lecturer at the Department of Radiation Medicine and Ecology of the Belarusian State Medical University, was convicted by the Minsk City Court for “facilitating extremist activity”. He received a sentence of restricted freedom without imprisonment. Despite being a relatively lenient form of punishment, it effectively results in a lifetime ban on professional educational work, including private tutoring.
Decrease in state-funded university places for Russian applicants
The Ministry of Education of Belarus announced that 850 state-funded university places have been allocated for Russian citizens in 2026. This is fewer than in 2025, when 1,000 places were available. The policy of encouraging Russian students to study in Belarus is a response to initiatives by Rossotrudnichestvo, which in recent years has increased the number of scholarships for Belarusian citizens to study at Russian universities eighteenfold, reaching 1,300 scholarships. The reduction on the Belarusian side was prompted by the fact that some of the places offered in 2025 remained unfilled. Belarus is losing this undeclared “competition for applicants” because it has limited capacity to conduct recruitment campaigns in Russia. At the same time, Russia operates an extensive network of soft-power institutions in Belarus, including five Rossotrudnichestvo offices, Russkiy Mir Foundation centers, and other affiliated structures.
Developments abroad
London Conference on Belarusian Studies
The 11th Annual London Conference on Belarusian Studies took place on May 8–9. The event was organized jointly by the School of Slavonic and East European Studies at University College London, the Ostrogorski Centre, and the Francysk Skaryna Belarusian Library and Museum. More than 40 scholars of Belarus from the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States, Brazil, Poland, Hungary, Canada, Austria, the Czech Republic, Italy, and Montenegro participated in the conference. Presentations covered topics including the Belarusian heritage of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, contemporary political developments in Belarus, international relations, Belarusian society, culture, language, as well as library and archival studies.
70 years of academic Belarusian studies in Poland
The Department of Belarusian Studies at the University of Warsaw was established in 1956. It is a unique academic institution whose staff have spent 70 years researching the Belarusian language, literature, history, and culture. To mark the anniversary, a special monograph by Radosław Kaleta, “My Belarusian Studies: From Polish-Belarusian Linguistic and Glottodidactic Research”, was published.
Seminar “Between Continuity and Change: Rethinking Politics, Society, and Identity in Belarus”
The academic seminar “Between Continuity and Change: Rethinking Politics, Society, and Identity in Belarus” took place on May 22 in Stockholm. It was organized by the Center for Baltic and East European Studies at Södertörn University. The seminar focused on texts for an upcoming volume in the “Voices of Belarus” monograph series, which is expected to be published later this year. Belarusian scholars and researchers from Lithuania, Poland, Denmark, Germany, and the United States took part. Discussions addressed a wide range of topics, including the role of the Belarusian language in the media and identity formation, authoritarian governance and everyday life in Belarus, historical heritage and multiculturalism, and the role of culture in resistance and the country’s future transformation.
Secondary school leaving exams in Belarusian in Podlasie
More than 70 graduates from secondary schools in Hajnówka and Bielsk Podlaski took the matura (secondary school leaving examination) in the Belarusian language. Most of them were students of the Hajnówka Secondary School, where Belarusian is a compulsory subject throughout the entire course of study. Over the past two years, the number of students taking final examinations in Belarusian has more than doubled.
Seminar “In Search of Vitebsk Latgalia”
The academic seminar “The Search of Viciebsk Latgale: Rethinking a Borderland Region from a Transnational Perspective” was held in Riga on May 29. It was organized by the Belarusian Institute in Prague, the University of Latvia, Daugavpils University, and the Academic Network Eastern Europe (akno e.V.). Participants discussed a broad range of topics, including the ethno-confessional landscape of the region, the identities of local population groups, and the current state of regional studies.
