January–March 2026
Pavel Tereshkovich, Advisor to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya on Education and Science
Summary
The education and science system in Belarus is developing under conditions of increasing state control, political indoctrination, and chronic underfunding. The “Intellectual Belarus” program formally establishes education as a priority, but in practice, it is accompanied by restricted access to higher education, militarization, and growing administrative pressure on students and educators.
Repression within the academic community continues, the number of faculty with academic degrees is declining, and the non-state education sector is effectively being dismantled. Science remains in deep crisis due to low funding and ineffective governance, despite some isolated positive initiatives.
At the same time, amid international isolation, a Belarusian educational and scientific diaspora is actively forming abroad. Through schools, non-formal education, research networks, and conferences, it contributes to preserving the Belarusian language, science, and academic community in exile.
Education in Belarus
State Policy in Education
In January 2026, the “Intellectual Belarus” state program was published, outlining the “key directions for implementing state policy in education” for 2026–2030. Despite declaring education the second-highest priority in the country’s socio-economic development, its budgetary allocations will remain secondary to other sectors.
The total allocation for five years amounts to 6.4 billion rubles (approximately €1.87 billion), which is less than 20% of spending on security bodies. One of the program’s key innovations is the mandatory redirection of at least 50% of ninth-grade graduates into vocational and secondary specialized education institutions. This significantly limits young people’s access to higher education.
A reflection of the growing militarization of education is the creation of a training center for future-oriented fields — a project informally referred to as the “Belarusian Harvard”. It is clearly aimed at preparing specialists primarily for the defense industry. Priority areas include aircraft construction (especially UAVs), digital technologies, robotics, chemistry, and biotechnology.
Minister of Education Andrei Ivanets emphasized that the center will continue the trajectory of engineering education, including the National Children’s Technopark and specialized engineering classes in secondary schools.
One of the few positive developments is the creation of an automated information system in education. It is expected to form a unified information space and streamline interaction between state bodies, organizations, educational institutions, and other stakeholders. There is hope that this will reduce the administrative reporting burden on teachers.
Political Indoctrination
Political indoctrination remains one of the dominant trends in early 2026. Oversight has shifted to prosecutorial bodies, signaling just how critical this priority has become.
In February 2026, for example, the Minsk Regional Prosecutor’s Office conducted an inspection and identified a number of violations in the organization of civic and patriotic education in schools. Such involvement of law enforcement structures in the educational process reflects a broader trend toward total state control over students and teachers.
Repression
Despite the release on March 19, 2026, of several prominent representatives of the academic community — including Valeryia Kastsiuhova — the list of individuals from this group facing various forms of restriction of liberty continues to grow and now stands at 25 people.
The publication of the “Intellectual Belarus” program also makes it possible to assess the scale of repression in higher education. This is evident in the unprecedented decline in the share of faculty with academic degrees between 2020 and 2024 — from 47.3% to 40%. In absolute terms, this represents a reduction of approximately 2,700 faculty members with academic degrees, or 28.5%.
The regime systematically employs psychological intimidation targeting university and senior school students. One such method is holding off-site court hearings within educational institutions. In February 2026, a hearing of this kind took place at Hrodna State Agrarian University, where a case of draft evasion was reviewed in the presence of students. Increasingly, defendants in such proceedings are also charged under politically motivated offenses.
Destruction of the Non-State Education Sector
The Lukashenka regime is pursuing a consistent policy aimed at eliminating the non-state education sector.
In March 2026, the closure of the Institute of Parliamentarism and Entrepreneurship was announced. The institute had been operating since 1993. In 2017, it had 1,100 students and 80 full-time faculty members. In 2024, the Ministry of Education refused to approve its enrollment plan, which ultimately led to its closure. Students were transferred to other universities, while the fate of the teaching staff remains unknown.
Another step in this direction has been the drafting of a bill introducing mandatory licensing for supplementary education programs for children and youth. This would abolish the declarative principle for those providing education outside formal schools, including language courses, art studios, programming schools, and various clubs. The justification for the bill states that the absence of licensing in supplementary education creates risks for social security and contradicts the concept of civil safety.
International Relations
The specialized exhibition “Education and Career” held in February 2026 illustrated the growing international isolation of Belarus in this field. Alongside Belarusian institutions, only around ten Russian universities and a stand from the controversial organization Rossotrudnichestvo were represented.
In March 2026, during Lukashenka’s visit, an agreement was signed between the Ministries of Education of Belarus and North Korea. This marks another step by the regime toward cooperation with some of the most notorious authoritarian regimes of our time. Similar contacts were established last year with the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and the military junta in Myanmar.
Science in Belarus
The research sector remains in a state of deep crisis. The main reasons are chronically low funding (0.5% of GDP) and highly unfavorable conditions in terms of the social environment and governance quality, where Belarus ranks 85th and 131st, respectively, in the Global Knowledge Index.
Failures in scientific research have been acknowledged even by the Lukashenka regime. Reform proposals have been put forward, but they do not alter the fundamental principles of governance or funding.
Among the few positive developments is the opening in February 2026 of the Laboratory of Structural and Functional Biology of Proteins at Belarusian State University. The laboratory is considered unique in the post-Soviet space. One of its practical applications is so-called “personalized medicine”, where research enables treatment selection based on an individual patient’s protein profile, determining the most suitable therapy and medication.
Another positive example is the launch of an online portal of Belarusian fairy tales in authentic audio recordings at the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. The collection is based on research expeditions conducted from the late 1960s to the 2000s. The creation of the portal is primarily the result of scientists’ own initiative, enthusiasm, and dedication. The collection of Belarusian folklore is among the richest in Europe.
Belarusian Education and Science Abroad
Educational Institutions and Projects
Formal Belarusian education abroad is represented by a limited number of institutions, primarily schools of the Belarusian national minority in Poland and Lithuania.
One notable development in this area was the public campaign in January 2026 in support of the Francysk Skaryna Gymnasium in Vilnius, advocating for education in the Belarusian language. The campaign was triggered by a proposed decision requiring children of migrants entering primary school to study exclusively in Lithuanian-language institutions. The Belarusian community viewed this as a threat to the gymnasium’s continued operation. Coordinated advocacy efforts led to a separate decision allowing migrant children to enroll in Belarusian-language primary schools.
Another positive development is the Belarusian Language Olympiad in Poland, involving high school students from Bielsk Podlaski, Hajnówka, and Białystok. It is the only olympiad in Poland dedicated to the languages of national minorities and has been held since 1994 by the Department of Belarusian Studies at the University of Warsaw.
In non-formal education, particular attention should be given to the activities of the Belarusian Research University named after Astafei Valovich, registered in Poland last year as a public association. In early 2026, the university significantly expanded its public presence, organizing a series of public lectures in cities across Poland and Lithuania. This initiative has made a substantial contribution to building Belarus’ academic infrastructure in exile.
Scientific Infrastructure and Research
A significant development was the publication of a 2025 review of Belarusian studies abroad. It was prepared by the H-Belarus Network for Interdisciplinary Belarusian Studies, established in 2025.
A roundtable titled “The Invisible People: How Belarusian Migrant Families Acculturate in Lithuania, and What Policy Lessons Can Be Learned from Their Life Stories” took place in January 2026 at the Institute of Sociology of the Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences in Vilnius. It presented an in-depth study conducted by a group of Belarusian sociologists with the support of the EU4Belarus–SALT (Support for Advanced Learning and Training) program.
Academic Seminars and Conferences
Academic seminars and conferences have become the most visible form of scholarly activity among Belarusian researchers in exile.
A series of seminars dedicated to the state of Belarusian historical research abroad and the situation of historians was held in early 2026 with the support of the EU4Belarus—SALT II program. Participants discussed the current state, key challenges, and development prospects of Belarusian historical scholarship in exile, as well as strengthening expert dialogue and building connections among Belarusian academic and intellectual communities abroad.
Particular attention was given to integration into the European academic space, including in Poland, Lithuania, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Ireland. It was noted that more than 100 professional historians are now in exile, with their integration conditions and ability to remain in the profession varying significantly depending on the host country.
The annual expert seminar on Lithuanian–Belarusian relations took place in March 2026 in Vilnius, bringing together Belarusian and Lithuanian experts and policymakers. The seminar featured a sociological study on Lithuanian public attitudes toward Belarusians and covered a wide range of issues, including the state of bilateral relations, migration challenges, perceptions of “Litvinism”, and the preservation of architectural heritage from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. A separate session was dedicated to the prospects of establishing a joint historical commission.
The conference “A Scientifically Grounded Path for the Integration of Belarus into the EU” was held in February 2026 in Vilnius. It presented modeling results for various scenarios of Belarus’ economic development following potential EU accession. The overall conclusion was that the Belarusian economy has the potential to overcome the inevitable challenges associated with such integration. While the impact would vary across sectors, researchers believe that, after a transition period, the economy would demonstrate sustainable growth. At the same time, maintaining the current economic model would lead to stagnation and lagging behind neighboring countries. The conference was organized by the FREE Network (Forum for Research on Eastern Europe) with the support of Sweden and the EU.
Conclusion
The education and science system in Belarus in early 2026 is characterized by a steady intensification of authoritarian governance practices, accompanied by political indoctrination, repression, and chronic underfunding. Despite the formal designation of education as a priority within the “Intellectual Belarus” program, state policy in practice is aimed at restricting access to higher education, militarizing training, and further subordinating the education sector to security and ideological objectives.
A key structural risk remains the degradation of the academic community, reflected in the mass reduction of faculty with academic degrees, the destruction of the non-state education sector, and the creation of an atmosphere of fear and pressure within educational institutions. These processes undermine the quality of education and deprive the country of its capacity for sustainable development and innovation. The growing involvement of security bodies in the educational process indicates a transformation of education into an instrument of political control rather than societal development.
Science remains in a deep systemic crisis caused by low funding and an ineffective governance model. Even the official acknowledgment of existing problems has not led to meaningful reforms addressing the fundamental principles of how science is organized and financed. Isolated positive initiatives in high-tech fields and cultural preservation remain limited in scope and are often driven by the professional dedication of researchers rather than consistent state support.
Against the backdrop of international isolation, Belarusian education and science initiatives abroad have gained particular importance. The formation of an educational and scientific diaspora, the expansion of non-formal education, and the active role of research networks, seminars, and conferences in EU countries contribute to preserving the Belarusian language, academic traditions, and professional communities in exile. These initiatives are shaping an alternative knowledge infrastructure and laying the groundwork for the future recovery and reintegration of Belarusian science and education into the European academic space, should political conditions change.
Recommendations
For independent media and the democratic forces’ channels
- Systematically cover the crisis in education and science as a societal issue, not merely a narrow professional one. The long-term socio-economic consequences of the degradation of the academic community and the militarization of education should be highlighted.
- Give a voice to the academic diaspora. The regular presence of scholars, educators, and experts in exile in the media space helps preserve professional identity and builds trust in alternative expertise.
- Avoid normalizing repression. Media outlets are advised to consistently call political indoctrination and pressure in the education sector by their proper names, rather than reducing them to “isolated violations” or bureaucratic failures.
For the leadership of the democratic forces of Belarus
- Define education and science as strategic priorities of democratic reforms. Public programs and policy frameworks should clearly articulate the depoliticization of education, the restoration of academic freedoms, and university autonomy as key elements of the country’s future transformation.
- Support and institutionalize the academic diaspora. Educational and scientific initiatives in exile should be viewed not as a temporary phenomenon but as a foundation for the future restoration of Belarus’s education and science system. Roadmaps for reintegrating professionals should be developed.
- Include repression in education on the international dialogue agenda. The protection of educators, researchers, and students should become a distinct track within the human rights and foreign policy activities of the democratic forces.
For international partners of the democratic forces
- Treat Belarusian education and science as part of the European space. Supporting the integration of the academic diaspora into EU universities strengthens not only the Belarusian community but also host countries.
- Promote joint research and educational formats. Conferences, seminars, and collaborative projects help prevent the marginalization of Belarusian expertise.
- Maintain the isolation of official Belarusian state structures. Any educational and scientific engagement with regime-controlled institutions should be critically assessed in terms of the risk of legitimizing repressive policies.
For international donors
- Shift the focus from one-off projects to sustainable academic structures. Supporting long-term programs, research networks, non-formal universities, and educational platforms in exile has a systemic impact.
- Invest in human capital, not only institutions. Scholarships, mobility grants, support for publications, and participation in international conferences help maintain the professional level of Belarusian scholars.
- Take the political context into account. Assistance programs should recognize that within Belarus, the education and science sectors are under strict state control and are not capable of autonomous development.
