Mission of the National University was discussed in Minsk

photo by EuroBelarus Information Service

How the “Russian World” will help the Belarusan University join Oxford, Cambridge, or Sorbonne?

The office of the “For Freedom” movement held the Consultative Council of the civil community for elaborating the project of the National University on May 14. The meeting was attended by the civil society representatives, education and culture projects’ delegates, as well as Belarusan media. Aliaksandr Milinkevich, the leader of the movement “For Freedom”, who initiated the idea, suggested discussing the mission of the National University and strategic issues of this project’s realization.

Perhaps the main goal of creating the National University is to unite education and research unions for the benefit of common cause of national revival. As a possible format of a new education institution a National research networking university was suggested. “National” means concerned with the country’s, not the state’s, advantage with Belarusan research and Belarusan language as its priorities. “Research” means oriented at the scientific search for Belarus and about Belarus. Networking means with a huge range of partners and absence of geographic localization.

For now the project is only being under elaboration, and a broad civil discussion of the project will be held after its results are announced, promise the creators.

Aliaksandr Milinkevich, the leader of the movement “For Freedom”:

- All NGO organizations can preserve their sovereignty, work together, and have common goal, as each of the organizations has its own achievements and its own value. We don’t need to choose any leaders. If you don’t mind, I think we can take a name of the Consultative Council of the civil community for establishing our university. And it should, first of all, be open for the civic unions to join it if they’d like to.

Secondly, we can name several directions. Media discourse about the university means broadening of our circle, which is very important. “EuroBelarus” has already started a discussion at its website. We have a chance to build our relations so that we supplement each other; we can build this network altogether. I don’t know what it will be like, but let’s organize this discussion.

There was also a suggestion to make a survey among organizations to find out what vision of this university they have.

Unfortunately, the attitude towards the country is to a great extent determined by politicians – a group of not very strong and often disagreeing politicians. And the fact that the single candidate wasn’t chosen impacts the image of every one of us very negatively, even though we are not doing politics.

And as an example, the reaction of my foreign friends to the statement signed by 57 actors was that finally, all different Belarusans have united around the understandable idea of education.

I think that we should always remember about this image factor, so we will ask journalists to help us with organizing media discussions.

Funding is a very important topic, too. Now Belarus’ partners from democratic countries understand that we should work strategically – the programs should be long-term.

There are apprehensions that the support of the civil initiatives will get reduced because of the university. The university can be supported exclusively through the funds allocated by the governments, Prime ministers, and Presidents, and that is a totally different source of funding!

I believe that if we would be able to create a networking university then the chances for extra support of the existing projects would also be possible to realize. So we shouldn’t be afraid of that!

As to the elites, if we would really create this university with baccalaureate system and Belarusan-oriented topic, then in future for creation of the elites it would be very important to have an agreement with the best Western universities. This university won’t be the best for the partners, but the goal is very noble. And thanks to that, we can form elites from the best students that we have in common education. Their motivation is the following: if you finish it here, you will be studying in the foreign university.

I find it more or less real. And then, obviously, there are two levels of education: general and elite.

Ina Kulei, chairperson of the Salidarnast committee for protection of the repressed, the curator of the Kalinouski student program:

- Can we establish a National University in today’s Belarus? I ask not as the leader of the Kalinouski program, but as a human rights defendant…

Aleh Trusau, the head of the Tavarystva Belaruskaj Movy (TBM) (the Belarusan Language Society):

- If we would get altogether, we would be able to do that here and have contacts abroad – join Cambridge or Oxford. I think they would accept us if we find them.

Or Sorbonne… Especially now, with regard to the Ukrainian events, when the “Russian World” woke up, there are chances for that!

Stanislau Shushkevich, former head of Belarus:

- Let’s agree on the goal of the university: is it mass education or we want to educate the elites? I cannot understand what we are arguing about. If we want to educate the elites, it would cost a fortune and presuppose invitation of elite lecturers from other countries. And what should be the language of teaching?

If we want to educate elites, we won’t find the way here. Graduation from Harvard, Yale, and Columbian Universities basically means that you are a part of the elites. But we want to do something we have neither money nor concrete concept about.

We need to find our goal.

And one more thing: one can often hear the word “revival”, but I don’t know what we want to revive. We need to construct instead and prepare those, who will form our Belarusan nation. And the main question: if we find good money we will earn a lot. But I don’t know how we can present this problem so that to find this money.

We tend to neglect the fact that in today’s Belarus’ universities there are promising Belarusan national teachers. Can it be that the direction of our work should somehow promote their proper work in the structures that we have?

We need to find a way to invite those lecturers, who encourage the appearance of the elites. Besides, we have very few Belarusan scientists in exact sciences. Thus, I have more questions than answers here.

Tatsiana Vadalazhskaja, the coordinator of the Flying University, candidate of sociological sciences:

- It seems to me that we are discussing two different things, so I would like to divide them: whether it is the higher professional education of high quality and Belarusan-oriented or a university as something that gives good traditional professional training. Now they are disagreeing more and more with time.

I don’t know anything about professional training, but I don’t think that we shouldn’t have it. We should! What I’m saying is that we should try to find modern national education that will be working for Belarus’ good and what will give the country people that would be able to change something and have abilities of systemic thinking, a possibility to escape the system.

And here is what I understand in this direction: we need to do a lot here, and we have three primary tasks. The first one is to understand the crises of such education in all circumstances, and it seems to me that today new universities are looking for that. We are trying something; looking for something, make mistakes. For example, the Flying University was built for it; it is concentrated around people, not subjects.

Second task is community, and not only community of specialists in their spheres but also community of those who can think about this university and try to make some system from it. And that, I think, is not that easy, since we all love to work in our own fields.

Third and the most important task is to build an intellectual area with the university in it as a place in society with intellectuals, thinkers, civil actors, i.e. build connections between people and those who think and can offer something. Whatever beautiful we make it should have its value and be heard. Those who will be teaching in the university should mean something for society.

And that is a special task of promotion, creating authorities and so on. This is what I see at the path towards the National University that is working over the problem of education, not professional training.