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- Contents
– Civil society and Education
– Repressions
– Regime politics
- Civil society and Education
– The European Humanities University invites you to take part in the Summer Democracy Camp, which will be held from 1 to 10 September in Visaginas (Lithuania). The camp program includes lectures and discussions about the “memory boom” in the region of Central and Eastern Europe, the manipulation of historical topics for political purposes, the problems of forming national narratives, the search for reconciliation and the resolution of historical conflicts. Students of the European Humanities University, as well as Belarusian students studying in Lithuania and Poland (bachelor's, master's, doctoral studies) are invited to participate. Participation is free, selection of candidates is carried out on a competitive basis. Call for applications – until August 5, 2023.
– Fundraising to prepare for the new academic year for the children of political prisoners and people released from places of deprivation of liberty continues. Four civic initiatives have combined their efforts and opportunities to support Belarusians in difficult circumstances: the BYSOL Solidarity Foundation, the «Country for Life» Foundation, the Dissidentby political prisoner assistance initiative, and the Littowin LIONS CLUB charitable organization. At the time of publication, more than 6,000 euros out of the required 25,000 have been raised. Important: if you plan to transfer donations, do not use BY/RU means of payment for your personal safety.
– School No. 34 in Hrodna has an opportunity to teach children in the Belarusian language. For an appropriate class to be created, at least 2–3 applications for admission from those who wish are required. For questions about teaching in Belarusian, you can contact the school principal Vitaly Valiantsinavich Parmanchuk by phone 8 0152 33 20 98.
– «RADA» Youth Council presented the results of a study of the needs of Belarusian youth in non–formal education. Participants – 176 respondents representing the age group of 18–35 years. The study concluded that the most attractive topics for young people are soft skills, education in the Belarusian language and culture, as well as financial literacy (63%). The authors of the study note the difference in the interests of respondents from Belarus and abroad: young people abroad are interested in the topics of human rights, political literacy and civic engagement. The full version of the report can be found here.
– As part of the «Octopus» project, the third meeting of the laboratory was held, where approaches to define the principles of educational policy, models of the education system, and formats for managing education in Belarus were discussed. Moderator Marina Sakalova emphasized the importance of the structural elements of the concept and suggested a number of such elements that should be presented in the concepts of the reform. At the same time, during the discussion of the problems of Belarusian school education and the possibilities of borrowing the experience of Western countries for reforms, the laboratory participants presented different approaches. The laboratory will continue its work in September 2023 and invites experts and representatives of the pedagogical community to take part in the discussion of the education reform and the model of the future school. Contacts for communication: vasminoh.reform@gmail.com.
– A new edition from the «Gallery of Human Thought» rubric by Liavon Barshcheuski and Dzmitry Kolas has appeared in bookstores in Minsk. This time, the work of the famous German philosopher Friedrich Schelling «Philosophical studies on the essence of human freedom» is presented in Belarusian.
– A new episode has been published on the youtube channel «Challenging history». Andrei Kazakevich and Aliaksei Lastouski talked with the Belarusian historian Aleh Dziarnovich on the topic: “What was the significance for Belarus of the formation of Lithuania as a historical and cultural symbol?” The interlocutors also discussed relations between the Balts and Slavs, the difficulties of the formation of the Commonwealth and the problems of interpreting the legacy of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
– Singer and Ph.D. Dzmitry Nikanovich gave a long interview to «Nasha Niva», in which he spoke about his experience of teaching at the Faculty of Journalism of the Belarusian State University and his subsequent dismissal due to his political position. In 2020, Nikanovich took part in a peaceful protest on the steps of the faculty and actively discussed the situation in the country with students. According to the lecturer, his civic position caused a sharp reaction from the faculty authorities, which tried to put pressure on him because of Nikanovich's public statements.
– Siarhei Alsheuski analyzed the results of the entrance campaign to universities in 2023 based on open data. What happened after the removal of the Level 5 task from the centralized exam, what does the statistics on absenteeism at the CT really say, and how does all this reflect the decline in interest in higher education? The text with numbers and graphs can be read тут.
- Repressions
– On July 4, 2023, the court of the Zheleznadarozhny District of the city of Homel ruled that the website of the Belarusian Youth Council «RADA» and the association’s accounts on Instagram, Facebook, VK, YouTube and Linkedin are extremist materials.
– On July 17, the telegram channel of the security forces published a “repentant” video with the participation of a 4th year student of the law faculty of one of the Belarusian universities. The girl was detained because of her master's thesis, which contained references to «extremist» sources. In the video, a student admits that she ordered the text from a company that writes student papers. Immediately before defending her diploma, the girl was expelled from the university. Later, in the same Telegram channel, a “repentant” video appeared with the author of the work, as well as information that the girl would be punished in the form of several days imprisonment for distributing “forbidden materials”.
– The release of the rubric “Beyond the “Freedom Fight” on the Navapolatsk TV channel Zviazda on July 4 was dedicated to Polatsk State University. The TV channel claims that in 2020 the university was distinguished by educational and ideological drawbacks. PSU Rector Yuri Ramanouski (in office since August 2022) confirmed that after the August events, many teachers took the side of the protesters. After the presenter's words about the threat to «Belarusian statehood» from those who «share and admire the Western way of life», they showed the previously detained PSU teacher Siarhei Hlazyryn. This is another detention that continues the series of arrests at the university this spring and summer.
– On June 24, news surfaced about the arrest of two university lecturers – Nadezhda Starovoitova, a Belarusian language teacher and candidate in philological sciences, and associate professor at the Department of Belarusian and Russian languages, and Natalia Sivitskaya, a Russian language teacher and candidate in philological sciences. A repentant video featuring them was published on the security forces' Telegram channel. The teachers talk about their involvement in the protests, and Starovoitova also “confesses” that she went out onto the road during protest marches, being registered in the Peramoga plan, and subscribing to “destructive” channels.
– Staff members of the KGB randomly check the phones of employees of universities, colleges and lyceums. The goal is to detect violations of the order prohibiting subscriptions to any so-called «extremist» resources. At any time, any employee may be required to unlock the phone and show the contents. Inspections are carried out by vice-rectors or deputy directors for security or educational work. This position appeared in educational institutions after 2020, representatives of special services are appointed to it.
- Regime policy
– “Cyber partisans” announced hacking the servers of the Belarusian State University and said that they would return the data in exchange for the release of 50 political prisoners. According to them, as a result of the attack, domain controllers were hit, workstations were encrypted, and more than 3 terabytes of data were downloaded. The university denies the hack and calls the information about the DDos attack unreliable, explaining the problems as a technical failure that their IT specialists are working on. Currently, all bsu.by sites remain inaccessible.
– On July 4, information about the new dean was published on the website of the Faculty of History and Philology of Mahiliou State University – Aliaksandr Kisialiou, Candidate of Agricultural Sciences, was appointed by him. The new leader did not last long. A day later, on July 5, the rector of Mahiliou State University Dzianis Duk signed a decree appointing Maryia Matsiusheuskaya, Candidate of Historical Sciences, to this position. According to media reports, the reappointment took place after the outcry caused by the appointment of Kisialiou – many publications noted the difference between Kisialiou’s areas of specialization and the faculty.
– Students of Minsk State Linguistic University who have not joined the trade union and the Belarusian Republican Youth Union may have problems with a place in the dormitory. Parents of students turned to representatives of the university for clarification, to which they were told that those students who are members of both organizations will have advantages in the distribution of places.
– The Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus and the Russian Federation Council suggest that the governments of the two countries develop common approaches to teaching history. The legislators recommend that the authorities of the regions of the two countries continue to work on «the formation of common standards and approaches in assessing the joint history of Russia and Belarus.» Among the recommendations presented in the document is the creation of joint films that reflect the «historical and spiritual community of the Russian and Belarusian peoples.»
– In mid-July, information surfaced that the regime started tracking people who make apostilles. According to «Nasha Niva», at least one case is known when the management of a state institution received a list of those who submitted documents for an apostille. Employees were called “for a conversation”, were asked about plans, were clarified information about relatives.
– In Belarusian medical universities, gender quotas have been established for surgical profiles – «General Medicine» and «Pediatrics». So, for the profile «Anesthesiology and reanimatology» in one of the universities there are 40 places for men and 20 for women. The new procedure for the distribution of places is regulated by the order of the Ministry of Health of Belarus «On the organization of training in subordination». «Euroradio» asked Volha Kaliuupanava, Head of the Personnel Policy Department of the Ministry, for a comment on the new resolution – the text of the conversation can be read here.
– QS World University Rankings has published its 20th annual report. It includes 1497 universities from 104 countries of the world. Compared to 2022, the Belarusian State University lost almost a hundred positions and moved from 288th place to 387th. BNTU moved from the group 751–800 to the next – 801–1000, and BSUIR – «dipped» to 1201–1400. This year, the rating was compiled taking into account the updated significance of the criteria, including «international cooperation», «the results of the employment of graduates», etc.
– On July 13, 24 Belarusian schoolchildren were sent to rest in the Artek International Children's Center in Crimea. This was reported by the telegram channel «Russian House in Minsk». Among the participants are the winners of the Russian competition «Big Change».
– The Ministry of Labor of Belarus has announced the start of accepting applications for financial assistance for the academic year for families with many children. The total number of such families in Belarus is 240,000, of which only 115,000 can count on financial support. The amount of assistance is 30% of the subsistence minimum budget for each student. According to the Ministry of Trade, school fees in 2023 will cost parents 370–1122 Belarusian rubles for elementary school students, and 462–1392 for high school students. This includes school clothes or uniforms, shoes, stationery and other school supplies.
– In 2023, Belarusian schools, together with parents, must decide on the second element of the school uniform. This choice had to be made before May 2023. At the same time, each model of a school uniform is approved by a special commission of representatives of Bellegprom, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Trade before being put into production. If a student comes to school without a uniform, this may be the reason for proceedings by the school administration. Earlier, the media reported on the plans of the city authorities to introduce in Minsk a school uniform of a single color, with state symbols and the coat of arms of the city.
– In Minsk, two lyceums are being liquidated – No. 1 in the Maskouski District of the city of Minsk, No. 2 – in Leninski. According to Andrei Stryhelski, Chairman of the Education Committee of Minsk City Executive Committee, “today there is no need for such an institution as a general education lyceum.” The official also noted that all conditions have been created in Minsk for receiving specialized education at the third stage at all schools and gymnasiums.
– The Perspektywy Educational Foundation presented a report on students studying in Poland, and according to these data, Belarusians take second place in the TOP-10 in terms of the number of foreign students. More than 12,000 Belarusian students study in various educational institutions of the country. The total number of foreign students studying in Poland is 105,000. The most popular areas among foreigners are management, computer science and medicine.
