News & Events in Belarus

MINSK, 14 May (BelTA) – Belarus’ accession to the Bologna Process has been approved by the resolution of European education ministers. The Bologna committee praised Belarus’ achievements in the development of the national education system in the Republic of Belarus, BelTA learned from the press center of the Education Ministry.

Belarus’ accession to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) was discussed at the meeting of EHEA Education Ministers in Yerevan, Armenia. The Belarusian delegation was led by Education Minister Mikhail Zhuravkov.

“For Belarus it is an important and responsible step in the development of the national education system. This step praises a high level of the Belarusian education system and obliges us to develop and update the system of education. Belarus’ joining the European Higher Education Area testifies to the fact that the global community hails the Belarusian system of higher education and proves that the national model is competitive and can be integrated in the global education space,” Mikhail Zhuravkov said at the conference in Armenia on 14 May. He emphasized that the national education development strategy relies on international integration, the involvement of a big number of interested parties, including employers, representatives of student self-government initiatives and international experts.

The meeting of EHEA Education Ministers and the forum on the Bologna policy is held in Armenia for the first time. The conference has brought together representatives of 47 countries. They are expected to sign a number of important documents to determine the fate of thousands of students and universities all over Europe. Participants of the events will also discuss the Yerevan declaration and significant innovations in education.

The ideas for the European University Community and the Single European Space of Higher Education come from Italy’s oldest University of Bologna. In 1986 getting ready to mark its 900^th anniversary the university addressed all the universities of Europe with a request to adopt the Magna Charta Universitarum. The idea was supported and in 1988 the document that celebrates university traditions and encourages bonds amongst European universities was signed by rectors of 80 universities. In 1999 Bologna hosted the first conference of 30 European education ministers. They adopted a declaration on the European Higher Education Area that defined the main goals for the achievement of consistency and the harmonization of national education systems of higher education in the European countries. The declaration gave start to the Bologna Process.