By Ilona Krasutskaya: On 1 September, the Belarusian President traditionally visits educational institutions. This year, Alexander Lukashenko went to Minsk State Auto-Mechanical College. The President once again stressed that the Belarusian education should be oriented towards the needs of the economy.
Minsk State Auto-Mechanical College is one of the country’s oldest institutions of secondary special education. Its 72-year-old history is closely connected with the development of Minsk Automobile Plant, which is located literally across the road. During this time, the college produced 24,000 specialists, which is nearly 1.5 times more than the entire current MAZ team. The most popular qualifications are car service and vehicle maintenance. The institution itself resembles a mini-enterprise. It has newest laboratories, as well as a resource center for training personnel for car maintenance and repair, and a service station. Cars of famous brands are right in the classrooms for students to learn to fix them using diagnostic equipment.
In the course of his visit, the President talked about how to improve the system of vocational education in the country. Currently, there are 248 institutions of vocational and specialized secondary education in Belarus. This network is being optimized now.
Annually, more than a third of graduates of schools choose lyceums and colleges as the first step in their career. This academic year, these institutions welcome nearly 190,000 students. During the admissions campaign, there were 260 occupations to choose from. The top qualifications are a car mechanic, an auto mechanic, a hairdresser, and a cook.
The high quality of vocational education is regularly proven by victories of Belarusian students at international competitions in professional skills. Vocational training is fully integrated with the production and real needs of the economy. Also, many countries send their students to Belarus.
