Further Education in the Republic of Belarus

The vocational and technical education is one of the critical components of the national education system intended for forming an accessible, open and continuously developing system and allowing the economy and social/cultural sphere to fully meet the needs in qualified workers and employees.

In 2004 231 vocational and technical institutions of education trained 125 thousand students in Belarus. The students are trained in more than 300 professions. In the majority of institutions of education students are given instructions both in professional and

general educational disciplines. Only 5% of students being trained within the basic education system are not provided with the general secondary education. 57% of the institutions of education train, retrain and upgrade the qualification of the adult population.

Currently, the vocational and technical institutions of education are changing over to training versatile workers of integrated professions simultaneously phasing out training of single-profession workers.

To improve the vocational and technical education system and integrate it in the specialized secondary education, 54 vocational and technical colleges combining vocational/technical and specialized secondary education were set up. 43 vocational lyceums provide general education and vocational training at a higher level.

Specialized secondary education. 140 public and 10 private specia­lized secondary institutions of education are currently available in Belarus (among them technical schools, vocational schools, colleges). 5 higher colleges, 54 vocational and technical colleges and 6 education and pedagogical centres based on the general education schools train specialists with the specialized secondary education.

The specialized secondary institutions of education train almost 160 thousand students including 116 thousand full-time students. The students are trained in over 150 specialities and 300 majors for all sectors of the national economy.

Special attention is paid to the development of a new type of specialized secondary institutions of education — colleges — to provide an advanced specialised theoretical and practical training of students. College students may master several majors within one speciality. That allows them to adapt to the professional sphere in the labour market. The college graduates may enter the higher institutions of education and receive a higher education within a shorter period of time.

10. Pronunciation

Circle the word in each line which has a different vowel sound. Listen to the teacher and check your answers.

1) master market major advanced

2) labour retrain upgrade majority

3) discipline employee receive need

4) economy college worker qualified

11. Word Study

A. Give Russian equivalents to the following word combinations:

vocational and technical education; meet the needs, qualified workers and employees; institution of education; educational discipline; basic education system; to retrain and upgrade the qualification; specialized secondary education; versatile workers; integrated professions; single-profession workers; an advanced training; to master several majors; labour market; college graduates; within a shorter period of time.

B. First, match the words and expressions with their meanings.
Then, supply the sentences with these words. If necessary, change
their grammatical forms.

1. Staff are being ... to use the new equipment. 2. We want this college to ... of all its students. 3. Workers of integrated professions are more ..., that's why we prefer them to single-profession employees.

4. There's been a fall in the number of young people entering the ... .

5. Is it possible to ... accountancy in three months? 6. She is an ... learner of English, she studies the subject at a difficult level. 7. The

system has been ... to meet customers' needs. 8. You haven't got the required ... education to do the job. 9. Their goal was to make adult education more ... . 10. This is a modern, ... approach to learning based on all-round education.

12. Grammar Focus

A. Find sentences in the text with the infinitive in the function
of an adverbial modifier of purpose. Translate the sentences.

B. Finish the sentences with the infinitive in the function of an
adverbial modifier of purpose.

1. 1 entered the college to ... . 2. Educational institutions are being modernized to ... . 3. A 10-grade assessment system has been introduced to ... . 4. To run your business well you must .... 5. To become a well-qualified worker one must ... . 6. The qualification of the adult population must be continuously upgraded in order to ... . 7. Colleges have been set up to .... 8. To adapt to the professional sphere in the labour market college students ... . 9. English will be required in my future profession in order to ... . 10. I need to improve my language skills in order to ... .

Diving Deeper

Give detailed answers to the following questions.

1. Why is the vocational and technical education a critical component of the national education system? 2. What knowledge do students get at vocational and technical institutions of education? 3. What changes are taking place at vocational and technical institu­tions of education? 4. What was done to improve the vocational and technical education system? 5. How many specialized secondary institutions of education are there in Belarus? 6. How many students study at specialized secondary institutions of education? 7. Why are colleges paid special attention to?

14. Speaking

Prove the statements using the information from the text.

• The vocational and technical education is an important component of the national education system.

• College students get all-round education.

• Much attention is paid to the improvement of the vocational and technical education system.

• Specialized secondary education is well-developed in Belarus.

• Colleges are an important type of specialized secondary institutions of education.

15. Role-Playing

You are in Great Britain, and you are invited to visit a Teachers' Training College. Future teachers want to know how the system of education in your country functions. Tell them about the peculiarities of the vocational, technical and specialized secondary education in Belarus.

16. General Comprehension

Read the following article and think of a suitable title for each paragraph.