MINSK, 28 January (BelTA) – Patriotism is taught at all stages of education, Belarus' Education Minister Igor Karpenko said at a session of the Presidium of the Council of the Republic to discuss the promotion of citizenship and patriotism among students. The session was held at Minsk State Linguistic University on 27 January, BelTA has learned.
“Today, the upbringing and socialization of the younger generation are coming to play an increasingly important and even crucial role. Any state promotes the values that unite the nation, and thereby fosters loyalty to civic duty among its citizens starting from an early age. Educational institutions of our country have developed a system of civil and patriotic education of young people, which is an important part of the educational process. An appropriate legal framework has been developed. The new edition of the Education Code includes provisions about patriotic education. Methodological guidelines have been developed to teach patriotism in educational institutions,” the minister said.
Igor Karpenko noted that patriotism is taught at all the levels of the education system. “Starting from a kindergarten, children learn the history of their country, city, village. Huge upbringing potential lies directly in educational activities. Every discipline at school and university has a significant impact on the formation of the worldview of children and the youth, but the most powerful disciplines in this respect are social studies and humanities,” the minister stressed.
According to Igor Karpenko, special attention is paid to the study of the Second World War and the Great Patriotic War in the country's educational institutions. “Today we are facing attempts to rewrite history for opportunistic political purposes, to devalue the contribution of the Soviet people to the Great Victory. And it is historical science that makes the biggest contribution to countering falsifications. It is important to teach true facts, laws, principles and theories to shape the
civil stance of a future worker. A new cycle of humanities has been developed for higher learning institutions. This cycle includes the discipline History of Belarusian Statehood,” he said.
The minister stressed that other effective forms of patriotic education include tourism and local history camps, patriotic and military sports, games and camps that are annually held during summer holidays, competitions in military applied sports and physical training. Close attention is paid to arranging museums at educational institutions.
“Student construction brigades are a time-tested and popular youth initiative. This initiative offers employment, valuable experience of teamwork, and patriotic education. On the initiative of young people, a new presidential decree was adopted to ensure the mobility of a student team and the rights of its members,” Igor Karpenko added.
