Foreigners' education

The conditions of education for foreign citizens and stateless persons (hereinafter referred to as foreigners) in the Republic of Belarus depend on their residence status.

Foreigners permanently residing in the Republic of Belarus, foreign citizens and stateless persons of Belarusian nationality permanently residing in foreign countries, as well as foreigners who have been granted refugee status in the Republic of Belarus, have the same right to education as citizens of the Republic of Belarus (unless otherwise specified by legislative acts and international treaties of the Republic of Belarus).

Foreigners temporarily staying and temporarily residing in the Republic of Belarus (with the exception of minor foreigners) have the right to receive education in the Republic of Belarus in accordance with international treaties of the Republic of Belarus and (or) agreements concluded between an educational institution of the Republic of Belarus (another organization of the education system of the Republic of Belarus) and an organization of a foreign state (an international organization, a foreigner, temporarily staying or temporarily residing in the Republic of Belarus).

FOR REFERENCE:

Only citizens of the Republic of Belarus are accepted to receive education in specialties for the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus, other troops and military formations of the Republic of Belarus, internal affairs bodies of the Republic of Belarus, the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Belarus, the State Committee for Forensic Examinations of the Republic of Belarus, financial investigation bodies of the State Control Committee of the Republic of Belarus, bodies and units for emergency situations of the Republic of Belarus, unless otherwise established by international treaties of the Republic of Belarus.

Minor foreigners temporarily residing in the Republic of Belarus, as well as minor foreigners who have been granted refugee status or additional protection in the Republic of Belarus or who apply for refugee status or additional protection in the Republic of Belarus, have the right to pre-school, general secondary and special education on an equal basis with minor citizens of the Republic of Belarus.

FOR REFERENCE:

For citizens of Ukraine and stateless persons who have resided in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, as a rule, for at least a year and arrived in the Republic of Belarus to obtain temporary or permanent residence permits.:

• Minor citizens of Ukraine temporarily staying in the Republic of Belarus have the right to pre-school, general secondary, and special education on an equal basis with minor citizens of the Republic of Belarus.;
• minor citizens of Ukraine are exempt from providing the documents necessary to make a decision on admission to educational institutions and other organizations that are authorized by law to carry out educational activities in order to receive pre-school, general secondary, and special education, as well as the documents necessary to make a decision on providing social protection measures to students in the absence of objective opportunity to submit such documents;
• educational institutions have the right to accept citizens of Ukraine for obtaining (continuing) vocational and technical education, secondary specialized education, and first-level higher education at the expense of the national and (or) local budgets, or on payment terms provided for citizens of the Republic of Belarus, if there are vacancies established by the admission plans, based on the results of an interview in accordance with the procedure and on the terms determined by educational institutions, in the case of the provision by citizens of Ukraine of documents confirming residence and education in the territory of Donetsk or Lugansk regions of Ukraine.

(Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus dated 30.08.2014 N 420 "On the stay of Ukrainian citizens in the Republic of Belarus").

Basic education in the Republic of Belarus includes the following levels:

1. pre-school education;
2. general secondary education;
3. vocational and technical education;
4. secondary specialized education;
5. higher education;
6. postgraduate education.

Forms of education in the Republic of Belarus:

• full-time education (education and upbringing involving the student's permanent personal participation in regular training sessions and attestations organized by an educational institution or other organization in accordance with the law) is carried out in two types.:
  • Full–time education is the main type of student's employment.,
  • Evening education is usually combined with other types of student employment.;
• correspondence (education and upbringing, which primarily involves independent learning of the educational program content by students who personally participate in only a limited number of training sessions and attestations organized by an educational institution or other organization in accordance with the law),
  • Distance learning is a type of correspondence education, where education is mainly carried out using modern communication and information technologies.;
• distance learning (education and upbringing that primarily involve independent mastery of the educational program content by the student, with their personal participation only in the аттестации organized by the educational institution or organization implementing postgraduate education programs).

There is a flexible admission system for foreign citizens that fully takes into account their interests and requests in specialties. For foreign citizens who do not speak Russian, there is an opportunity to study at the preparatory department.

Foreigners studying the content of vocational, secondary specialized, higher, and postgraduate education programs, who are studying in accordance with international treaties of the Republic of Belarus, are paid educational scholarships, as well as scholarships for graduate students and doctoral students, if this is provided for by the international treaties of the Republic of Belarus under which these individuals were admitted to study.

Foreigners temporarily staying or temporarily residing in the Republic of Belarus, who have received education in the Republic of Belarus, are issued educational documents in Russian, Belarusian, English, French, or Spanish, at their choice.

Recognition of educational documents issued in foreign countries and establishment of their equivalence (correspondence) to educational documents of the Republic of Belarus are carried out by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Belarus in accordance with the legislation, including international treaties of the Republic of Belarus, with the issuance of a certificate, and means granting the holders of these documents the same rights as holders of educational documents of the Republic of Belarus.