A minor possibility given to Belarusan higher education will be a relevant step in the right directi

Now that Belarus-EU relations started to resume, overall political context for Belarus’s Bologna application largely improved. Minsk’s efforts in mediating Russia-Ukraine crisis played their role.

Belarus remains the only European country excluded from the Bologna Process to date. This situation may finally change on 14-15 May 2015 when the ministerial meeting of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) will consider Belarus’s second attempt to join the 47-nation club.

Even though the Belarusan system of higher education has not seen any fundamental improvements in recent years, this time around it has a good chance of being brought into the fold. If it happens everyone, and especially Belarusan students and universities, will win. However, it will only be a single step in the right direction – as the real work will start afterwards.

Will Belarus be accepted this time?

The EHEA ministerial meeting set to take place on 14-15 May in Yerevan will consider Belarus’s application to the Bologna group. The Belarusan Minister of Education Mikhail Zhuraukou has received an official invitation to attend the event. The Belarusan media have already read this as a sign that the country’s bid for membership has been successful.

Minister Zhuraukou also sounds optimistic. In his words, “Belarus observes almost every principle of the Bologna Declaration, there remain only some formalities [to be worked out]”.

Unofficial sources point to a potential positive decision as well. According to Uladzimir Dunaeu, member of the Belarusan Independent Bologna Committee, the Bologna Working Group, which reviewed the application, prepared a ‘yes’ recommendation for the ministerial meeting in May.

At the beginning of March, the Working Group visited Minsk and held a seminar at the Belarusan State University. The Head of the Education Department of the Council of Europe Sjur Bergan, who took part in the seminar, made quite an unequivocal statement: “The fact that we have come to Belarus proves that we are seriously considering your application. Otherwise we would not be here”.

Second attempt in four years

The general mood appears to be quite different from the situation at the end of 2011, when Belarus applied to the Bologna Process for the first time. Even though the Belarusan application at that time caused similar discussions inside and outside the country, some things have changed this time around.

As with the current situation, the government then stressed the gradual progress of the educational system and its technical compatibility with the European Higher Education Area, the country's readiness to organise international exchange programmes and apply a unified educational credit system. Also similar to the present-day situation, the Independent Bologna Committee then argued that higher education in Belarus fell short of the Bologna standards and core values.

Yet, the 2011 review of Belarus’s application took place against a very different political background. Only one year had passed since the Belarusan authorities cracked down on mass demonstrations during the presidential election night at the end of December 2010. Belarus-EU relations saw one of the worst periods ever: sanctions lists were growing, both sides exchanged harsh statements and mutual accusations, and EU ambassadors left Minsk several times to display their diplomatic protest.

As a result, in December 2011 the Bologna Working Group recommended a ministerial meeting (held in April 2012) to not accept Belarus – and at that time, the ministers agreed. According to their assessment, the Belarusan system of higher education did not respect the principles and values of the Bologna Process, such as academic freedom, institutional autonomy and student participation in the governance of universities.

Now that the relations with the EU have entered a phase of rapprochement, the overall political context for Belarus’s Bologna application has considerably improved. The growing bilateral agenda and Minsk’s efforts in mediating a de-escalation of the Ukraine crisis have played their own role.

Has anything changed in higher education in Belarus?

In December 2014 the Belarusan Independent Bologna Committee prepared a new report on the country’s readiness to join the EHEA. According to this report, the system of higher education in Belarus has made significant progress but still failed to meet the necessary criteria with the issues that prevented its acceptance three years before. Representatives of some independent student organisations agree with this assessment.

Officials from the Ministry of Education and rectors of Belarusan universities have offered up different points of view on the degree to which things have changed over the past four years. Minister Zhuraukou argues that:

now we can say with confidence that Belarus has a two-stage system of education with bachelor programmes (from three to five years depending on one's specialisation) and master programmes. … We have introduced the possibility of getting PhD through defending a thesis. Moreover, now a PhD defence can be conducted in English. All Belarusan universities have started to have courses in English. … Of course, Belarus has its own issues, as does any other country, but in general we are in compliance with the guidelines of the Bologna convention.

The First Deputy Minister of Education Vadzim Bohush claims that in all Belarusan university students now have a direct vote on all issues facing their institutions. Students’ representatives sit on university councils and have the right of a binding, not advisory, vote.

However, according to the monitoring carried out by the Belarusan Independent Bologna Committee and the youth trade union group Students Rada, the student quota (25%) in university councils is hardly respected.

Why Is Bologna good for Belarus?

Thus, the state of play in the field of higher education in Belarus has not progressed a lot since 2011. Neither have the discussions about Belarus's potential Bologna membership: both supporters and opponents of the idea firmly adhere to the same arguments.

And this is no surprise.

The fundamental mistake of traditional Western policies towards Belarus is expecting too much too soon, even though the reality on the ground simply precludes a possibility of a quick change.

A realist needs to accept that the full implementation of the Bologna principles contradicts the very nature of the present-day political reality in the country and that there is no external or internal power capable of changing it at present. And the real question of the day has to do with the prospects of long-term improvements.

Isolation, as Belarus has already demonstrated, hardly serves anyone: whether it be the country in general, the government, opposition, civil society, educational system or individual citizens. Moreover, the prolonged isolation of higher education institutions primarily harms those whom it claims to protect – the young generation of Belarusans, who are deprived of basic opportunities as a result of these policies.

Even a minor opening up of the Belarusan education system, which the Bologna process can facilitate, will be a meaningful step in the right direction. It will also help equip more progressively minded individuals in government circles with additional arguments against the Soviet-style retrogrades that still dominate many academic and policy-making institutions in Belarus.

In the light of this, the ministers of the Bologna group should accept Belarus to the European Higher Education Area. And it is important to use the membership not for political sloganeering but for promoting the fundamental principles of the Bologna process in practise, in a manner that is patient but also consistent.

Originally published at BelarusDigest