Ad Hoc Commission of the Belarusian National Platform Highlights Little Progress in the Implementation of EHEA Fundamental Academic Values

The Ad Hoc Commission of EaP CSF Belarusian National Platform prepared the Monitoring Report on the Implementation of Belarus Roadmap for Higher Education Reform for the period of June-December 2015.

The Commission analysed the progress of the implementation in the areas of the Ministry of Education’s planning, transparency, social dimension of higher education, and fundamental values. It concluded that although the Ministry of Education undertook steps to begin the Roadmap implementation on paper, in reality, a climate of intimidation persists in Belarusian universities and there is little progress in the implementation of EHEA fundamental academic values.

The Ad Hoc Commission recommended the following to the Advisory Group on the “Support for the Belarus Roadmap”:

In the field of academic freedom of students and faculty

closely monitor academic freedom violations in Belarusian HEI and to undertake the necessary action to reinstate student and faculty rights
to take much needed steps leading to the abolition of Article 193.1 of the Belarus Criminal Code as a prerequisite for legislation and the modernization of educational policy aimed at students and faculty rights to establish and register organizations

In the field of institutional autonomy

to assist the Ministry of Education in widening real autonomy of Belarusian HEI through such changes in legislation and educational policy that will lead to the implementation of the transparency of activities by HEI Rectors and their accountability to academic community, in particular, to reintroduce free and independent elections of university rectors
to contribute and to assist the Belarusian Ministry of Education in opening access to all information about the Ministry of Education and HEI activities for HE stakeholders where these do not constitute state or military secrets.

Monitoring Report (June-December 2015)

back to Forum News