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Lukashenka directs that Belarus join Bologna Process

Alyaksandr Lukashenka has tasked Education Minister Alyaksandr Radzkow with starting the procedure of making Belarus a participating country of the Bologna Process, which is aimed at creating a European Higher Education Area, said the presidential press office, BelaPAN reports.

Joining the Bologna Process will bring national higher education standards closer to the European ones, contribute to the integration of scientific research, education and high-tech production, facilitate access to the European system of ensuring education quality and the international accreditation of Belarusian universities, ensure Belarus’ participation in the accreditation of the higher education systems of other countries, help introduce national mechanisms of assessing, guaranteeing and confirming education quality, which would be compatible with the European ones, expand access to European programs of academic and scientific cooperation for Belarusian higher education institutions, and increase the attractiveness of Belarus’ national higher education system for foreign students, the press office said.

In early June, Mr. Lukashenka suggested that Belarus should not rush to join the Bologna Process. He expressed concern that the Belarusian education system would have to be reformed.

"The most important thing remains the same: we don't have the right to break the education system," he said.

Instead of thinking about a new reform, attention should be paid to unsolved problems, of which Belarus has a fair share, Mr. Lukashenka said.

The education system should meet Belarus' national interests, contribute to the development of the national economy, prepare young people for real life and teach them "healthy ideology," he suggested.