Lukashenko: it’s necessary not to keep education-related problems secret and not to embellish reality

President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko has been taking part today in the Republican Pedagogical Council, which was opened by a speech of Education Minister Andrei Ivanets. After his report on the state and prospects of development of the national education system, the Head of State deliberately escalated the topic of the conversation, asking to clearly list the problems that exist in the sphere.

photo: www.president.gov.by

Aleksandr Lukashenko, in particular, asked whether the school has become a real temple in the minds of pupils, “Do you remember my words? I said that the school is a temple, and those entering it should be aware of this (this primarily refers to pupils). Has this been achieved? Are pupils going to school with trepidation? Do they understand where they have come to? Or is there a complete mess during breaktimes? Is this observed at schools or not? There is an impression that there are no problems, but I would like you to list them. List these problems so that all teachers can hear them.”

According to Mr. Ivanets, one of the most important tasks for today is to educate true citizens and patriots. Another task is to restore the prestige of the profession of a teacher.

The shortage of enrolees at agricultural and engineering universities is also a problem, and Aleksandr Lukashenko commented, “This is what we really need today. After all, everyone wants to eat. Why is there a shortage? How can we also do without engineers?”

The Head of State stressed that the pedagogical council should not be a formal bureaucratic event: it needs to see the problems and solve them in a timely manner, “They should not be kept secret or embellished. We are in the same boat, and we are moving along the set course. There is no need to hide something, tell a lie or embellish the situation. This should not be done. The situation around us is very complicated. There have never been such difficulties around Belarus as we observe now. We must ensure that our country stands its ground, and we should jointly think of how these could be done. We must be ready, since it all starts with us, with teachers. There will be no one without teachers, and – most importantly – there will be no health. There will be no doctors if you do not teach them at school.”