Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko named five major problems of the higher education system as he met with members of the National Council of Rectors of Higher Education Institutions on 13 February, BelTA has learned. 

The problems, identified by the head of state, concern the demand for and quality of national education, graduation assignment, the current state of staffing at universities, ideological education of students, and morale building activities. 

On supply and demand in the labor market 

“Problem number one is the gap between supply and demand in the labor market. We seem to have forgotten how in the 1990s we started training hosts of lawyers and economists, who, after getting a degree, went to work as taxi drivers and pizza deliverers. Even now many graduates work outside their field of study,” the president said, adding that he had repeatedly risen the issue. 

“Training non-core specialists, low retention in the first job, leaving the profession – all this is an unacceptable luxury for our state. Do we have nowhere else to put our money in? If we take into account how much the state pays for it, we will see that this is nothing but an economic crime?” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

Written by belta.by