MINSK, 12 April (BelTA) – The Belarusian Education Ministry and the Russian Science and Higher Education Ministry signed a joint plan of action in the sphere of state youth policy for 2019 in Moscow, the Belarusian Education Ministry's press service told BelTA after a joint session of the boards of the Belarusian Education Ministry, the State Science and Technology Committee of Belarus, the Russian Science and Higher Education Ministry, and the Russian Enlightenment Ministry in Moscow on 11 April.
According to the source, the joint session of the boards was the first one after Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko and President of Russia Vladimir Putin met in Sochi in February 2019. Instructions to reconcile educational and scientific standards as well as youth programs were formulated during the meeting. This is why participants of the joint session of the boards discussed priority avenues and top-priority development tasks of the Union State of Belarus and Russia in 2018-2022, in particular, the formation of the common education space and the youth policy.
Participants of the session discussed prospects of vocational training and higher education. An agreement was reached on practical aspects of improving the operation of the Belarusian-Russian University in Mogilev. Concrete plans on interaction in the sphere of youth policy were discussed.
After the session Belarusian Education Minister Igor Karpenko remarked that the education systems of the two countries are getting integrated. “Both Belarus and Russia put efforts into improving the quality of education, seek ways to make it more competitive. Among other things they focus on scientific and methodological support and global matters of socialization of young people, preparing young people for an independent life,” he said.
Chairman of the State Science and Technology Committee of Belarus Aleksandr Shumilin pointed out that representatives of the government agencies overseeing science and education had taken part in the session. “Education is inseparable from science. These matters should be discussed as a complex. It is necessary to implement joint government programs,” he is convinced.
Participants of the session also discussed matters of scientific and technical cooperation, prospects of setting up an association of rectors of Belarusian and Russian universities. The Russian side expressed interest in borrowing Belarusian experience in the sphere of secondary school education, in expanding the scope of joint work in this field.
