The dialogue with the minister of education

On Thursday, October 21, Minister of Education of the Republic of Belarus I.KARPENKO held a working trip to the Gorki district.

In the morning, the Minister met the leading pedagogical workers of the region, and visited the Ovsyanka secondary school. This educational establishment with a swimming pool and a gym, was built on the initiative of the chairman of the local collective farm "17th Party Congress," a graduate of the agronomic faculty of our academy, Hero of Socialist Labor Ivan Melnik. Today, his name is given to agricultural complex "Ovsyanka", and one of the student's working team of the BSAA. The ashes of the Hero according to his will were dispelled after death over the central estate of the famous farm... I. Karpenko met with teachers and students. And then he presented the school with sports equipment and books for the library.

In the afternoon Igor Karpenko paid a visit to the country's leading agricultural university - the Belarusian State the Orders of the October Revolution and the Labour Red Banner Agricultural Academy. On the main square near the fountain, the university administration met a high guest according to an old folk tradition. Students in national costumes presented the minister with ritual bread. The rector of the academy, Vitaly Velikanov, gave the Minister a brief excursion to the educational building. Having lingered at the Symbolic Book with the words of gratitude of the President of Belarus, a graduate of the Belarusian State Agricultural Academy, Alexander Lukashenko "I am proud of my membership in my academy..." after getting acquainted with the showpieces of the exhibition of scientific achievements of teachers and students, the Minister and his accompanying persons went into the conference room. It became the main dialogue platform for the exchange of opinions and speeches.

The meeting was opened by Rector V.Velikanov. He introduced the Minister of Education I.Karpenko and other participants - Deputy of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus E.P. Kolesneva, Chairman of the Gorki District Executive Committee M.V. Guly, and his deputy L.V.Krivitskaya, Head of the Education Department of the Mogilev Regional Executive Committee A.B.Zablotsky. The deans of faculties and tutors of students groups, as well as the best students of the academy took part in the dialogue with the head of the ministry. The event was held in compliance with social distance and other anti-epidemiological measures.

Igor Karpenko admitted that in the rank of a member of the state government he visits the oldest educational establishment in the country for the first time. Before that, he visited Gorki, while working at the pedagogical university. This was a difficult period when, after the collapse of the USSR, the task was not only to preserve the sovereignty and independence of the republic, but also to restore the normal operation of the educational system. It's in those years, the minister noted, that the academy was an experimental platform, with its own traditions, style. I.Karpenko emphasized that he was personally acquainted with the then vice-rector for educational work V.I. Nevdakh. And that today the agrarian university has preserved and multiplies all the best that was created by its predecessors. Hearing from Vitaly  Velikanov that today citizens from 18 countries of the world are studying at the academy, the minister called such figures. More than 27,000 foreign citizens from 109 countries receive prestigious education in Belarusian universities. This once again suggests that the national education system meets the requirements of the world educational space and the Bologna process. It is in demand and competitive, as shown by the export indicators of educational services.

he Minister spoke about changes to the Education Code. Soon it will be considered by the deputies of the parliament in the second reading and will be submitted for approval to the Head of State. I.V. Karpenko devoted a significant part of his speech to agrarian education, emphasizing its special importance not only in ensuring the food security of the country, but also in solving a number of social and economic problems. He stressed the importance of targeted training of specialists, touched upon issues of distribution of graduates, their status, responsibility of the employer, etc.

The Minister spoke about changes to the Education Code. Soon it will be considered by the deputies of the parliament in the second reading and will be submitted for approval to the Head of State. I.V. Karpenko devoted a significant part of his speech to agrarian education, emphasizing its special importance not only in ensuring the food security of the country, but also in solving a number of social and economic problems. He stressed the importance of targeted training of specialists, touched upon issues of distribution of graduates, their status, responsibility of the employer, etc.

The minister answered questions from an attentive audience. They concerned distance learning, increasing the prestige of agricultural education, the possibility of opening a military department at the BSHA, conducting vaccination, the work of curators, etc. At the end of the meeting, the Minister warmly thanked all participants.

Words of gratitude to the head of the republican authority were also heard from the rector V. Velikanov. In memory of the meeting, he presented I. Karpenko with a gift set of the Chronicle of the BSAA, which was released on the occasion of the 180th anniversary of the academy.

Lyudmila Goncharova, Elena Tuzhikova
Photo: Aleksander Gurikov