Entrance exams to be put under state control in Belarus

The President of Belarus signed a decree on the establishment of a state commission to monitor the preparation and conduct of the entrance campaign in 2025. Two years ago, the exam results caused widespread discontent among schoolchildren and their parents. Officials are called upon to prevent this from happening. This year, there will be an important innovation – in accordance with Alexander Lukashenko’s instructions to solve the problem of engineering personnel, graduates of specialized classes will enter universities without exams. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Labor recently expanded the list of jobs that can employ teenagers aged 14-16. Experts do not rule out that the opportunity to earn money on their own will reduce the number of people who want to get a higher education.

A state commission has been established in Belarus to monitor the course of the entrance campaign in 2025. Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Karanik has been appointed as its chairman. The body includes representatives of the Council of the Republic and the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus, various departments and public organizations.

The press service of President Alexander Lukashenko notes: “The implementation of the decree will ensure the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of citizens when applying to institutions of higher and secondary special education, and, if necessary, take prompt response measures to eliminate violations of the law.”

Recall that in 2023, the entrance campaign was accompanied by massive discontent among schoolchildren and parents. At that time, the Ministry of Education was introducing a new scoring system, and, to put it mildly, it did not arouse understanding. Lukashenko personally intervened in the situation, who stated that it was necessary to “create a regular, understandable system” of knowledge control. As a result, the points were recalculated using a simplified method.

This year, the centralized exam and centralized testing will be held from May 26 to June 5. The State Commission is designed to prevent the occurrence of such abnormal situations.

The first large-scale graduation of specialized engineering classes will also take place in Belarus this year. Sergey Pischov, head of the Main Department of Vocational Education of the Ministry of Education, told a press conference on the admission campaign earlier: “Graduates of engineering classes will be able to enter universities in more than 70 specialties along an additional trajectory.”

The official explained: “To enter a university on an additional trajectory, you need to have at least eight points in the certificate in specialized subjects and at least seven in the rest. Admission will require a recommendation from the school’s teaching council, and an interview will also be required. It is conducted according to the curriculum of the optional lesson “In the world of engineering and technology: choosing an engineering profession”.

It is worth noting that this innovation is the Ministry of Education’s response to criticism from the president, which was voiced following the results of the 2024 entrance campaign. At that time, the head of the department, Andrei Ivanets, admitted that universities had under-educated about 870 people. Of these, about 120 are full–time students in engineering and technical universities.

This information angered the head of state. Lukashenko stressed: “I respect my first profession as a historian and lawyer. This is necessary, this is fine, although their shortcomings are visible in 2020. Our shortcomings – historians and others, that’s good. But how will we be without engineers? Lawyers and historians will not create an electric car, nor will they build a nuclear power plant. That is, they are also needed. And first of all, they are engineers, and where are they?”

Now Minister Ivanets hopes to answer this unpleasant question without hiding his eyes.

Meanwhile, an innovation came into effect in Belarus the other day, which, according to some experts, may not have the best effect on the desire of schoolchildren to receive higher education. The Telegram channel of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection reports that the list of professions available to teenagers has been expanded. Now, at the age of 14-16, it is allowed to work in offices, cafes and shops, in delivery, furniture assembly, sewing, dispatchers, etc. And also, as before, to help in agriculture, landscaping, work as animators and promoters.

Andrei Lavrukhin, an expert in the field of education, head of the Institute for Development and Social Market for Belarus and Eastern Europe, commented on these innovations on one of the opposition Internet resources: “It’s good to teach children to work. If they still pay money for it, even more so. Children will become more responsible and independent earlier, and gradually understand the value of money. This is the positive side. On the other hand, it is equally obvious that such a measure is necessary for the state due to the acute shortage of personnel. And in many ways it looks like an attempt to plug the holes in the labor market.”

The expert also notes the ambiguous impact of these measures on the prospects of higher education: “If children earn money from the age of 14, they can say: “Mom, dad, why should I study? I can still cut money now.” It is clear that this will not be the money to allow an independent life, but children may have such an idea. And if teenagers see that education is not necessary, this may increase the share of those who work in the labor market without education. This will contribute to the archaization of the economy, and the labor market will require low-skilled workers.”

At the same time, the expert admits: “But there is another side, a positive one. Children who will already be entering the labor market will be able to understand where they pay more and where they pay less, based on which they will be able to choose their future education more pragmatically. They will be able to have a more relevant understanding of the labor market they will have to enter later.”