Minister of Education Igor Karpovich in Orsha: "Conservatism must be overcome"

In the conference hall of Gymnasium No. 2, after detailed discussion, additions and amendments were made to the Resolution of the Ministry of Education of Belarus dated August 22, 2012 No. 101 "On approval of the instruction on the procedure for attestation of pedagogical workers of the education system." Their essence lies in simplifying the system of attestation of teachers and delegating powers to the administration of institutions and local authorities.

– In the Address to the Belarusian people and the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus, President Alexander Lukashenko spoke about the need to improve the education system and solve a number of problems before September of this year, – the minister noted. – We need to develop measures to solve conceptual issues from preschool education to universities. First of all, it is necessary to revise the programs and content of textbooks, and to deal with the academic load.

Igor Karpov informed that for this purpose, working groups have been created, which have already begun to analyze programs, textbooks, and teaching aids. Practical teachers have also been involved in the work. Their task is to determine the volume and quality of information in textbooks and the volume of school programs.

While familiarizing himself with the developments and achievements of the educational institutions of Orsha region on the eve of the meeting, Igor Vasilyevich talked with subject teachers about school workloads and the content of certain textbooks.

– Yes, there are a number of remarks, claims regarding both the content, illustrations, and the accessibility of information, – said Igor Karpov. – However, let's recall the Soviet school. Did we discuss whether a textbook was good or bad? We listened with bated breath to the teacher, who presented the material in such a way that sometimes we didn't even have to open the textbook at home. Therefore, the methodological training of the teacher should occupy

a key role in the system of program review, textbook and manual preparation. I would like our institutes for educational development and retraining system, including those universities that train personnel in pedagogical specialties, to pay serious attention to this. Unfortunately, we provide a lot of theory, while practice and methodology suffer.

Igor Vasilievich emphasized the issues of the profile system in schools and the training of specialists, workers, and employees. He expressed regret that currently the Ministry of Education acts not only as a government body responsible for personnel training but also as their customer.

– Here, first of all, we need to start from the needs for certain specialists in the economic and social sectors, – stated Igor Karpenko. – In accordance with the instruction of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers, in addition to the Ministry of Education, the Ministries of Labor and Social Protection and Economy will be leading in the training system. A working group has been formed from representatives of these three government bodies, which is to develop a new concept for ordering personnel and create a fundamentally new scheme for forecasting the need for specialists. I believe that the role and responsibility of enterprises in forming orders will be significant. The task is set for both local authorities and sectoral ministries so that, when forming an investment package, we do not forget about the education system, which must provide specific enterprises with specialists. Everything is interconnected here, from what innovative industries will appear, what jobs will be created, to educational and methodological support and the material and technical base.

Igor Karpenko noted that this year some control figures for admission to secondary vocational and higher education institutions in a number of specialties, including for blue-collar professions, have been adjusted.

– Innovations in regulating admission figures should affect not only the budgetary but also the paid forms of education. It should not be the case that we train specialists on a paid basis and then graduate them into nowhere.

It shouldremind that in his Address, Alexander Lukashenko touched upon such an important topic as the development of regions, small and medium-sized towns. The task was set to develop a strategy for their development using the example of the Orsha district. And the education system is the most important component of regional development, which solves many socio-economic problems of raising the younger generation and reproducing the personnel potential. The Orsha district has a developed, stably functioning education system, represented by institutions of primary, secondary and special education. This was stated in his speech by the **Head of the Education Department** of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, Dmitry Khoma. These are 116 institutions, over 3.5 thousand pedagogical workers, more than 28 thousand students. At the same time, there are significant reserves for development. It is necessary to significantly strengthen the material and technical base, using available resources, increase the efficiency of personnel work and, as a result, reach a higher quality level of education and upbringing of the younger generation.

– Unfortunately, there are still schools where there is nothing but desks, a blackboard and chalk, – noted Igor Karpenko. – This is a cause for concern in our age of information technologies and opportunities. We need to make a breakthrough, but we are very slow to get going. If we do not make a breakthrough in computerization, in equipping schools with modern equipment and technology, and in using electronic systems in the educational process in the next few years, we will not just be treading water, but will fall into a pit. Therefore, it is very important now to work out these issues in the Orsha region, relevant instructions have already been given.

The Minister emphasized the need to ensure walking distance to preschool education, to review issues of further optimization of the network of educational institutions, and to create conditions for the education of persons with psychophysical development peculiarities.

There are 9 vocational education institutions operating in the Orsha region, where almost 5 thousand people are studying. This youth should be in demand in the firstthe queue in their region, is confident Igor Vasilievich. He noted that in the system of vocational and secondary specialized education, training in certain specialties is duplicated, and optimization work has not been completed. There are also problems with the employment of graduates with special psychophysical development. Igor Karpenko spoke about the expediency of transferring vocational schools and secondary specialized educational institutions to the jurisdiction of local authorities.

– This will be more competent in terms of personnel policy, – emphasized the minister. – We must build this work in close contact with local authorities, as they will react more quickly to the changing labor market. Conservatism in the education system must be overcome. We must not hesitate, but be more flexible in the conditions of a changing labor market and fulfill the tasks that time sets before us.

Olga Lebedeva, photos by the author. "Vitebskiye Vesti".