On January 26, President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko held a meeting on the structure of higher education in our country The meeting focused on the issues related to the adoption of the two-cycle system of training at all the institutions of higher learning in our republic. This proposal by the Ministry of Education was a cause for hot debate at the meeting attended by rectors of the leading higher educational establishments, top leaders of the National Academy of Sciences, members of the Higher Certifying Commission and government officials.

During the meeting, Alexander Lukashenko expressed himself against any thoughtless imitation of the Western educational standards. There are no commonly agreed principles in Western Europe as to how the two-cycle system of education should be organized. Nevertheless, they understand clearly over there how important it is to preserve the national systems of education. It was emphasized that there is a harsh competition in the education market between the American and European systems of education in order to attract foreign students.

The Belarusian education is in great demand today in the world despite the fact that our system of education does not meet certain European templates.

During the meeting questions were raised regarding the draft Law “On Higher Education” currently under examination at the Parliament. The President demanded that the Law be returned from the House of Representatives because there is a need for further scrutiny of its provisions. In summing up, the Head of State warned against any haste in taking decisions and called upon to consider every step very carefully in making improvements in such an important realm as the realm of higher education.