Difficulties experienced by the modern system of higher education in Belarus

This article seeks to explore the actual changes in the system of higher education in Belarus. The author traces the origins of the difficulties experienced by higher education in Belarus in the recent history of the country. The aim of the research is, therefore, to evaluate the current condition of the system of higher education in Belarus and to provide its explanation. The research methods employed in the article include documentary and secondary data analysis necessary to examine the development of the higher education system in Belarus within the last twenty five years. There is not much research conducted on the topic of the article. Since Belarus and Russia have not only a common cultural background, but also similar educational systems, the development of the higher education system in Belarus mainly attracts the attention of scholars in these two countries. However, the state of the educational system in Belarus generally does not seem to draw much interest of the research community in the rest of the world. Recent growing concerns for the educational system in Belarus expressed by researchers and the media are mostly caused by the fact that Belarus officially joined the Bologna process and promised to update its system of higher education. Therefore, there is a strong need to explore the current situation in the higher education system in Belarus and to analyze its origins. The author enumerates the difficulties existing in the system of higher education in Belarus and preventing it from compliance with the Bologna spirit. Among these difficulties is the extreme bureaucratization of the higher education system. The latter is controlled by all levels of power; therefore, there is no university autonomy either by law or in practice. The passivity of the faculty staff due to its insufficient turnover also prevents higher education from developing according to world standards. Massive commercialization of higher education has resulted in the decrease of its quality. The inadequate system of graduates' placement that has existed in the country since the Soviet era contributes to disparities between the graduates' qualifications and the country's job market. Having examined the data, the author comes to a conclusion that the system of higher education in Belarus needs significant reforms in order to match the European educational standards. Although the authorities promised to conduct them by 2018, doubts are expressed by the general public that the country is able to conduct all the necessary reforms on time.

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