Getting higher education at the universities of Belarus is affordable and prestigious, which means that every year tens of thousands of students again enroll in educational programs of the widest range. Belarusian education inherits the traditions of the Soviet university system, which means it is distinguished by the high quality of training of specialists in all speci alties, especially technical ones. The article will pay special attention to which universities in Belarus have special differences and therefore deserve the most careful study. It is worth starting with the classification of universities and their forms of ownership.
Classification of universities in Belarus
The republic has adopted a division of higher education into specialized ones, which include academies and conservatories, technical and technological universities, classical universities, institutes and higher colleges.
In addition, an important parameter is the form of ownership, since universities are not only public, but also private. There are a total of nine private universities in the country, eight out ofwhich is located in Minsk and one in Gomel. Despite the private nature of these universities, they are under the control of the Ministry of Education.
Classical Universities
In Belarus, state multidisciplinary universities are located in every major city. The main university of the country is considered to be the Belarusian State University located in Minsk. The date of foundation of BSU is October 30, 1921, when the university opened its doors to the first students.
The newly opened university in Belarus had five faculties: agricultural, social sciences, working, medical and physics and mathematics. The first doctoral dissertation was defended at Belarusian State University in 1927.
New Universities
Unlike such well-known universities as Belarusian State University and Gomel and Vitebsk universities, Polessky and Baranovichi universities were organized only in the early 2000s to improve access to education for young people who are unable to move to study in Minsk.
Baranovichi University was established in 2004 and has five faculties:
- pre-university training;
- pedagogy and psychology;
- engineering;
- Slavic and Germanic languages;
- economics and law.
It is worth noting that, despite its very short history, Baranovichi University provides services of the same high quality as all other stateuniversities in Belarus.
On April 5, 2006 Polessye University was established in the city of Pinsk. Today it is the youngest university in the country. The educational institution was created on the basis of a branch of the Belarusian State Economic University and the Pinsk Higher Banking College. Until 2013, the university was subordinate to the National Bank of the Republic.
There is a lyceum at Polessky University where students can choose specialized physics and mathematics or chemistry and biology classes. The university also trains graduate and doctoral students in various economic speci alties related to the national economy.
Art universities
Art universities of the Republic of Belarus are represented by three universities located in Minsk. These include: Belarusian State Academy of Arts, Belarusian State Academy of Music, Belarusian State University of Culture and Arts.
The Academy of Arts trains artists, cameramen, actors and television specialists. The academy traces its history back to the Theater Institute, founded in 1945. After several transformations, the Institute was transformed into the Academy of Arts only in 2001. Today, the academy has six faculties focused on training specialists for film, television and theater.
Another prestigious art university is the Academy of Music, which is an authoritative scientific center for the study of folklore, musicaesthetics, pedagogy and musicology. But first of all, the Academy is known as an important training center for performers of various specializations. As part of the educational institution, there are vocal-choir, orchestral, piano, composer-musicological faculties and a faculty for advanced training.
Agricultural Academy
Due to the focus of the Belarusian economy on the production of high-quality agricultural products and their processing, the training of highly qualified personnel for the industry is of particular importance.
Belarusian Agricultural Academy is the oldest of the existing universities in Belarus. In addition, the peculiarity of the academy is that it is located not in Minsk, but in the city of Gorki, Mogilev region, which indicates the attention that the administration pays to the development of regions and increasing the availability of education for residents of small towns.
The academy has nine full-time faculties, including agronomic, land management and economic faculties. The faculties of distance learning include agrobiology, engineering and the faculty of economics and law.
