Lukashenko instructed the education system to work on its mistakes. What problems did the President focus on

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has instructed the education system to learn from its mistakes. This was the outcome of a meeting held by the head of state on the readiness of the education system for the new academic year, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.

The President was primarily interested not in general figures, such as the percentage of school readiness and other indicators, but in a wide range of problematic issues concerning the sphere of education. This is precisely why the traditional report by the minister and the relevant deputy prime minister, initially proposed to the head of state, was expanded into a meeting. Heads of the Prosecutor General's Office and the State Control Committee were specifically invited to the event to hear the assessments of the supervisory bodies.

As a result, the meeting was held in a highly critical tone. Alexander Lukashenko essentially did not accept the reports from either the minister or the deputy prime minister. This does not mean that everything in the domestic education system is bad. On the contrary, systematic work is being carried out in a number of areas, and everyone acknowledges this, but even isolated shortcomings and omissions in this sphere are unacceptable to the President. Not to mention the problematic issues that are systemic in nature.

As it became known, the head of state instructed to recall the prime minister from vacation: in a week, a broad meeting will be held under the leadership of the head of government. Alexander Lukashenko instructed the supervisory bodies to report the information in even greater detail there in order to conduct a detailed analysis with the development of an action plan on how to promptly eliminate all shortcomings. And already at the beginning of September, a new report will be submitted to the President.

Road and Fire Safety: Bringing Order

Among the problematic issues pointed out by Prosecutor General Andrei Shved are safety issues, including fire safety. Not all educational institutions have fully addressed this issue. There are also claims regarding the work on preventing road traffic accidents.

"In a number of cases, we have identified the unpreparedness or incomplete readiness of schools for the new academic year in terms of measures for the road safety of children in the surrounding areas. In some cases, we found that fire exits were cluttered with debris, fire extinguishers and other fire safety equipment were not in order. Children must be in safe conditions," Andrei Shved noted. "In addition, we have proposed measures to strengthen the protection of children's rights from violent acts."

The Prosecutor General's Office also paid special attention to compliance with legislation by minors. There are also many issues here that need to be addressed.

Support for Orphans: Provide Additional Measures

The issue of providing for orphans was approached quite critically at the meeting. This is the most vulnerable category, and it needs more attention, especially since the state has all the opportunities for this, the Prosecutor General's Office is confident. By the way, today 88% of orphans live in family-type homes, and the rest are in boarding schools. The President's task is to reach everyone, including those in remote areas.

The Prosecutor General's Office proposes to review the legislative requirements and define additional support for this category of students. "For example, for medical reasons. If a child needs glasses, the state should also provide for these children. Because they need to be protected, and only the state can protect them," emphasized Andrei Shved.

Textbooks: Establish a Monitoring Group

Another problematic area is textbooks. Despite many years of attention to this issue and the work carried out by the Ministry of Education, problems remain. As the Chairman of the Committee of State Control, Vasily Gerasimov, stated, a veritable flood of calls from citizens with complaints on this matter was received during a recent direct line. "From the perspective of simplicity and adequacy of the information provided. The Head of State has instructed to review all textbooks once again and to reach some conclusions," noted the head of the CSC.

At the meeting, claims were even analyzed with specific examples, with quotes from textbook assignments being read out. Alexander Lukashenko instructed to establish a monitoring group specifically on the topic of textbooks, under the auspices of the Prosecutor General's Office and the Committee of State Control. The group will include scientists, specialists, and philologists.

School Fairs: Price Gouging Will Be Stopped

Vasily Gerasimov also spoke about negative aspects in the operation of school fairs, where some private vendors inflate prices for goods by more than double. Unfortunately, such cases are not isolated. However, the situation is being monitored, and necessary measures are being taken against unscrupulous traders.

"These facts will be strictly suppressed, as has been done so far," warned the Chairman of the State Control Committee. "Prices are set, and no one has the right to inflate them. The last case was an overpricing by 2.6 times. Naturally, we suppress such facts and prohibit trade. And this will be done everywhere."

Student Transportation: Progress Has Been Made, But Shortcomings Remain

Among the main critical topics was the issue of student transportation, raised at the beginning of the meeting. "Unfortunately, there have been a number of shortcomings. There has undoubtedly been progress on this issue. However, not all measures have been taken yet, and we have outlined ways to resolve this issue," noted Vasily Gerasimov.

On Food Service Organization: Establish Basic Order

Much was also said about the organization of food service in schools and instances of theft. Minister of Education Andrei Ivants noted that a pilot project was recently conducted in Belarus to test new food preparation technologies and principles of school food service organization. "Over 350 new technological dishes have been developed, and the material and technical base of the kitchens is undergoing a significant update," he added.

Experiments and innovations in this area are all well and good, the President remarked. But the head of state demands that basic order be established first and foremost. According to him, this issue must be resolved once and for all, so that it is not revisited.

The Presidential Administration has been instructed to take the entire process of preparing educational institutions and the education system as a whole for the new academic year under strict control: with visits to schools and other educational institutions to assess the real situation on the ground.

Source: belta.by