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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.
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 “Mycelium” laboratory invites researchers, cultural figures and anyone interested to take part in a six-month laboratory dedicated to the study of colonial dependencies and decolonial practices in Belarus. Laboratory participants will conduct a joint study of how and with the help of what concepts one can talk about colonial dependencies in relation to Belarus. The result of the laboratory’s work will be the publication of a book containing research results, conceptual developments and analysis of specific cases concerning colonial optics in Belarus. Duration: 6 months.
Application deadline: until November 8, 2023. You can find out more and/or apply here.
The online school library from the project “Studies in Belarusian” has begun its work. On the library website you can find the following sections: Belarusian literature, foreign literature, popular science literature, textbooks, pedagogical and methodological literature, dictionaries. Information on the library website is regularly updated, and you can also support the project here.
The project “Octopus: education for Belarusian children today and tomorrow” continues the second competition for grants 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. You can read more about the competition here.
In Poland, a campaign to collect signatures for amendments to the law “On National and Ethnic Minorities and Regional Languages” has intensified. The organizers of the campaign call for expanding the understanding of the concept of “national minorities” and including not only Polish citizens, but also those Belarusians who legally reside in the country and have a residence permit. These changes will allow children from the Belarusian diaspora, if they wish, to study the Belarusian language and culture in lessons included in the general education curriculum of Polish schools. You can read more about the campaign here, sign the petition here.
- Repressions
As it became known, political scientist Valeryja Kastsiuhova was transferred to work in a sewing department in Homel women’s colony No. 4. Due to being included in the “terrorist list,” Kastsiuhova was deprived of the right to make a call and a short visit in October. Let us recall that in March 2023, the court sentenced the scientist to 10 years in prison, charging her with three articles of the Criminal Code – “seizure of power”, “damage to national security” and “incitement of hatred”.
On October 26th, BELSAT reported that law enforcement carried out a raid at the Grodno Zonal Institute of Plant Breeding of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Belarus, located in Shchuchin. Several employees were detained, and protocols were drawn up against them on charges of “spreading extremist materials.”
On October 27th, a trial began in Minsk involving university lecturers Natalia Savitskaya and Nadezhda Starovoitova, as well as the head of Student Dormitory No. 4 of the Belarusian State Economic University, Elena Drobudko. The women are facing charges under Article 342 of the Criminal Code, and the case is being heard in the Frunzensky District Court of Minsk.
- Regime politics
On October 20, Lukashenko held a meeting on planning and monitoring the implementation of strategic projects. Speaking about the work of the Academy of Sciences, he drew attention to the fact that “for some reason the real sector of the economy does not strive to use the works of scientists on a large scale.” According to him, few breakthrough projects have been created over 30 years, and more or less noticeable ones (nuclear power plant, production of quarry equipment, space programs and biomedicine development) became possible “only at the suggestion of the president.” Lukashenko demanded the creation of a center that would evaluate and oversee large-scale scientific projects. You can read about what options the government has proposed here.
On October 16, the staff of the Belarusian State University Lyceum introduced a new director – Tatsiana Mamchyts. According to some reports, she previously worked at the Institute of National Security, which trains personnel for the State Security Committee.
Russian Ambassador to Belarus Boris Gryzlov said that more branches of Russian universities may appear in the country. According to him, there are too few of them now (2 as of October 2023), and “this deficiency needs to be corrected.”
The CE and CT plan to return fifth-level tasks (complicated) next year. In 2023, test questions were adapted to the basic level of the school curriculum, which led to an increase in test scores, and, as a result, admission scores to universities. Comments from the head of the Republican Institute for Knowledge Control can be read here.
According to Euroradio, students in grades 8-11 of Belarusian schools are planning to be shown a documentary about State Security Committee employee Dzmitry Fedasiuk, who died in a shootout with Andrei Zeltser. View will be required and must take place before November 3, followed by a “discussion.” Schoolchildren will be asked to answer the questions: “In what ways do you want to be like Fedasiuk?”, “Why does one person risk his life and die, while another betrays?”
In Belarus, the procedure for using family capital for education is changing. The updated instructions say that transfers of funds for these purposes will be made annually, and the amount of funds used cannot exceed the cost of education for the current and (or) previous academic year, including to pay off existing student debt.
Belarus terminated the agreement with Ukraine on the mutual recognition and equivalence of education documents and academic titles. The corresponding resolution No. 689 was adopted and came into effect on October 17, 2023. The canceled agreement between the governments of Belarus and Ukraine was signed in Minsk in 1998 and had been in effect for 25 years.
Brest State University named after Alexander Pushkin published promotional videos on its Youtube channel with a call not to study, but to serve in the army under a contract. Thus, in one of these videos, a video sequence with footage of military exercises is accompanied by a voice-over with the words «Weapon is your spirit».
The head of the Belarusian Republican Youth Union, Aliaksandr Lukjanau, said that about eight million rubles have already been raised for the construction of a republican patriotic center in the Brest Fortress. According to official information, in this center it is planned to organize “a process for civil-patriotic, military-patriotic education of school and gymnasium students,” to equip barracks, and part of the Kobryn fortification structures will become an educational building. Previously information appeared in the media that money for this facility was collected «voluntarily-compulsorily», including «donations» from doctors.
Minister of Labor and Social Protection Iryna Kastevich stated that «every Belarusian schoolchild should be included in a facultative on family values». This suggests that after being introduced into the school curriculum, the facultative may become mandatory to attend. The elective classes will probably be conducted by representatives of the church, as a number of factors are already known when priests hold thematic meetings with students of Belarusian schools and higher educational institutions. The site motolko.help gives as an example the event “Men’s conversation” with the participation of Archbishop Stefan of Homel and Zhlobin. According to him, “The West has lost the Christian values of the family, and we, Belarusians, must preserve them. Otherwise, we will not exist as a nation.”
By the end of the academic year, every school in Belarus is expected to open a military-patriotic class or club, as announced by the Minister of Education, Andrey Ivanets. “We are actively working on the development of military-patriotic activities, museum education, and the expansion of military-patriotic clubs… All of these are elements that contribute to shaping a well-rounded personality for children,” noted the official.
“Patriotic education” is becoming more active not only in schools, but also in kindergartens. A video has appeared online from one of the kindergartens in the Homel region, where a “room for the memory of the Great Patriotic War” has been organized. According to the head of the kindergarten, preschoolers have developed imaginative thinking, and in this room children can “look, touch, and pick up this dugout.” The video also contains footage, presumably from matinees, where children perform in costumes with elements of military uniforms.
The telegram channel “Belarus’ Brain” has published a list of performers who cannot be included in the musical lineup when organizing New Year’s holidays and graduation evenings. Among others, the list includes Alexey Khlestov, Anna Netrebko, Lady Gaga and Cher. In addition, when organizing an event, it is necessary to agree on the entire playlist in advance.
CityDog published an interview with a teacher from one of Minsk schools. The teacher spoke about the high staff turnover, the administration’s demands to monitor parents, the imposed ideology and patriotism. How students have changed, which students can be influenced by propaganda, and what conscientious teachers hope to convey to children in such conditions.
