MINSK, 17 February (BelTA) – We are planning to reduce university admission numbers across some majors, Belarus' Education Minister Igor Karpenko told reporters on 17 February, BelTA has learned.
"Now we are working on the admission figures discussing them with every educational institution. They must be made public on the websites of educational institutions by 1 April. I can say right away that admission figures across some humanities specialties, in particular some economic and legal professions, will be decreased by 6%," Igor Karpenko said.
There is also a need to revise the ratio of admission figures of budget-financed student places and fee-paying students, the minister said. “It is not normal when there are five times more fee-paying students than tuition-free students. As a result, we have a situation when there are not enough jobs for graduates. Here we need to find a reasonable balance. We also need to revise admission figures for distance-learning programs,” Igor Karpenko noted.
However, this may entail another problem: the reduction in the number of fee-paying students will affect the budget of the university. "For universities this is real money, they earn to finance their development. The only way out is to work harder with our foreign partners in order to increase the export of educational services," Igor Karpenko is convinced.
