• News
  • Office
  • New Belarus
  • Partners
  • Support
  • Contacts
  • News
  • Office
  • New Belarus
  • Partners
  • Support
  • Contacts
  • Digest of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Office on Education and Science, November 2023

    December 05, 2023

    Please send information about everything related to education in Belarus to our secure anonymous chat bot: @eduOST_bot. Tell us the news from your educational institution or government department regarding repression and various forms of pressure from management, write to us about facts of corruption and new orders that seem unreasonable or irrational to you. We also invite you to share your ideas and proposals for reforming the education system.

    Follow the website, Facebook and Instagram of Asveta.

    Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya Scholarship at MCI

    Promoting Freedom, Democracy & Good Governance

    The Austrian university MCI Management Center Innsbruck has launched a scholarship program under the honorary patronage of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. The program is intended for Belarusians and citizens of other Eastern European countries involved in activities promoting the values of freedom, democracy and good governance.

    Attention – within the framework of this program, it is allowed to provide documents without an apostille!

    The scholarship will provide an opportunity on a preferential basis to obtain a bachelor’s or master’s degree in the following areas: “Business and Management”, “Entrepreneurship, Tourism and Leisure”, “Biotechnology”, “Business Psychology and Management”, “Environmental, Technological and Energy Engineering”, “International Business and Law”, “International Business and Management”, “International Healthcare Management”, “Management, Communication and IT”, “Mechatronics and Smart Technologies”, “Medical Technologies”, as well as an MBA “General Management”.

    Application deadline: March 31, 2024. Read more about the scholarship in this PDF.

    • Civil society and education

    The “Octopus” project has opened access to the online educational platform. Modern interactive courses on the Belarusian language and literature, history and geography, and other subjects are presented here. The platform collects courses from interested teachers, including those who had to leave their academic career in Belarus.

    Also, the project “Octopus: education for Belarusian children today and tomorrow” continues the second grant competition to support educational projects. Participants can request financial support for pilot educational projects, as well as for existing organizations and non-formal learning initiatives. The possible grant amount is from 1,000 to 20,000 euro. Applications are accepted until December 20, 2023. You can read more about the competition here.

    An overview of the non-formal adult education sector in Belarus has been published on the Adukatar project website, which presents key trends and opportunities for providers. The material was prepared by a group of experts under the aegis of the Agency for the Development of Adult Education LLC. On the website you can find a short version of the document with key aspects. It is also possible to familiarize yourself with the structure of the full version of the review and submit a request to receive the file by email.

    • Repressions

    As of November 20, 2023, in Belarus, 11 minors (who have reached their 18th birthday imprisoned or are currently minors) are recognized as political prisoners and remain in prison. The human rights center “Viasna” reminded this on World Children’s Day by publishing the names of teenagers. You can read their stories here (use VPN).

    On November 20, five students from Homel State Medical University were arrested and fined for “storing and distributing extremist materials”. The trials took place in Homel at the end of October. Two of the students, Mikalai Vakulchyk and Mikalai Lin, were sentenced to 15 days of administrative arrest, and three more received fines ranging from 10 to 20 basic units.

    The Telegram channel “Free Trade Union of BSU” reported the detention of Sviatlana Yaskevich, a senior teacher at the Institute of Business of the Belarusian State University. A telegram channel associated with security forces published a video claiming that she “instilled anti-state views in students” and sent “prohibited materials.” At the time of publication of the issue, the status of the teacher and why exactly she was detained remains unknown. Sviatlana Yaskevich has worked at the Institute of Business since 2006, and has taken part in numerous conferences on digital technologies, including in the field of education.

    58-year-old mathematics teacher Alena Tsymbalist, a Lithuanian citizen of Belarusian origin, spent 26 days in a temporary detention center on Akrestsina. She was detained on October 31, 2023 and sentenced to 7 days in prison under the article of disobedience to police officers. Alena spent another 19 days behind bars awaiting deportation from Belarus. Alena Tsymbalist worked as a mathematics teacher in Minsk schools for 11 years. Some time after returning to Lithuania, she gave an interview where she spoke about her experiences during imprisonment, her perception of the Belarusian school and why teachers, in her opinion, are slaves of the state, and Belarus is a “golden cage.”

    • Regime politics

    Motolko.help project continues to monitor propaganda in Belarusian educational institutions. At the end of November, an increase in political propaganda was recorded in higher educational institutions with the aim of encouraging students to participate in the 2024 election campaign. Informational meetings, seminars, and round tables are held with students. Similar events took place at the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Belarusian State University of Transport, Mozyr State Pedagogical University, etc. Teachers are encouraged to discuss with students every day the importance of participating in elections, and at the same time, pressure continues on students, teachers and schoolchildren in order to “prevent extremist activities.”

    The rector and staff of the Belarusian State University joined the “White Rus’” party. Ten employees and a university student joined the main pro-government party. The presentation of party cards took place on November 11 with the participation of the party chairman Aleh Ramanau.

    According to the Ministry of Education, the rector of the Belarusian State University of Information and Radioelectronics Vadzim Bohush and the head of the Department for Support of Operational Investigative Activities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Andrei Parshyn signed a cooperation agreement. It is reported that they agreed to work together in the scientific and technical field and train highly qualified personnel. According to experts, this entails another wave of increased militarization of the education system, and the increasing participation of security forces in this area.

    In November students of paid education at some Belarusian universities were required to sign additional agreements to the contracts, which spelled out the full cost of training. In some cases, this amount exceeded tuition fees by 2.5 times. According to the Ministry of Education, this amount consists of several components, and takes into account teachers’ salaries and contributions to the Social Security Fund, payment for business trips, transport, dormitory repairs, as well as payment of scholarships, financial assistance, etc. The department noted that each paying student reimburses no more than 60-70% of the cost of training.

    Lukashenka signed a decree on the creation of a council for strategic projects. The activities of the council will be ensured by the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus and its chairman of the presidium Uladzimir Husakou. The main tasks of the council are the search and selection of promising strategic projects, analysis of the feasibility and relevance of such projects, etc. Let us recall that the government proposed forming such a council at a meeting on October 20 on the issue of improving the system of planning and monitoring the implementation of strategic projects in response to Lukashenka’s demand about creating a “so-called brain core” that “under the president, on behalf of the president, next to the president, will see what is happening and force all of you to implement these projects.”

    Doctor of Historical Sciences Aliaksandr Krautsevich said what pension the state assigned him – 220 Belarusian rubles per month (about 70 US dollars). This is the pension of a scientist, archaeologist, professor. Aliaksandr Krautsevich worked at Yanka Kupala State University of Hrodna.

    Minsk school No. 72 was renamed in honor of the first riot police commander Uladzimir Artsiomau. The opening of the memorial plaque was attended by students of the military-patriotic clubs “Eaglets. Heirs of Victory” and “Asker”, active riot police officers, veterans of the unit and a representative of the Orthodox Church.

    Last news