The Answer Is Simple
- 6.09.2025, 19:15
While the world is developing artificial intelligence, Belarusian schools ban cell phones.
Belarus has been losing Belarusians at a catastrophic rate for five years in a row. Everyone is used to it and even the authorities are no longer surprised. But some figures are still able to shock. This year, Belarusian schools have lost 15 thousand first-graders.
With the beginning of the school year, the authorities boasted that 2600 schools and gymnasiums opened their doors to schoolchildren. And at the same time, that this year 90 thousand children will go to the first grade. But there is nothing to brag about. Because last year 105 thousand first-graders went to school.
That is a drop of 14 percent in just one year. Worse, if we take our neighbors, was only in Russia and Ukraine. In Russia, the number of first-graders collapsed by 16 percent, in Ukraine by 20 percent. But Russia and Ukraine are at war.
Of course, other Belarusian neighbors are not doing well with demography either. But still there is a difference. Others have problems, while we have a catastrophe. For example, in Poland, the number of first-graders has decreased by 7 percent, in Latvia - by 3.5 percent, in Moldova - by about 5 percent. At the same time, in Latvia the number of first-graders in 2024 was higher than in 2023.
And in Belarus - complete stability. I mean the number of first-graders is steadily falling. In 2023, 110 thousand children went to school for the first time on September 1. In 2020 there were 114 thousand.
But if in previous years it was a decline or even a fall, this year we see a collapse. And no surprise there. From 2020 to the beginning of this year, at least 600 thousand Belarusians left the country. According to Eurostat, only last year 175 thousand Belarusians received primary permits for residence in the EU countries. About 30 thousand of them are children.
People leave, settle in a new place and, having got on their feet, move their families and children. Again, no one canceled demographic problems. Because last year, only 59 thousand children were born in Belarus. One and a half times less compared to 2019. That is, it will get worse.
If the current trend continues, then in a few years there will be a third fewer first-graders in the country than there are now. And that's in the best case scenario. Unless the parents of those children born in 2024 decide to take them far away from the Belarusian patriotic education.
Because, as the state media boast, "the Ministry of Education has chosen 'such accents as health, discipline, patriotism, and technology'". Except that knowledge is missing from that list. Because knowledge is no longer a priority for the Ministry of Education.
"If we think that school is only a temple of knowledge, it is not quite right. School should also give consciousness. To form a civic position," Information Minister Marat Markov said on September 1.
And the formation of a civic position consists in the fact that at the first lesson schoolchildren watched Alexander Lukashenko's speech, discussed his quotes and wrote a letter to the pioneers in the year 2075. Apparently, about how all Soviet children in fifty years will live under communism again.
And before the solemn ruler children were given instructions on how to listen to the anthem. They should stand straight, not turn their heads, not laugh, not smile and not talk, and their facial expression should be sublime and spiritualized.
That is, while the big world is developing artificial intelligence, studying the human genome and preparing for a flight to Mars, in Belarusian schools cell phones are banned, and children are taught to survive in a hostile imperialist environment in 1953.
"We must not break away from our roots and understand the price of our current life," said the head of the National Bank Roman Golovchenko about the educational priorities.
It's no wonder that with such priorities, the number of first-graders has fallen by 14%, while the number of those entering military and police universities has increased. Twice as many children have enrolled in the Suvorov school as last year.
"We have seen that during these 15 days they have already learned the anthem of the school and learned to march in formation," rejoiced Secretary of the Security Council Alexander Wolfovich.
And when officials then resent why we do not have breakthrough scientific developments in our country, the answer is simple. That's why it doesn't work. Everyone is smart. Everyone walks in formation. With a lofty and spiritualized expression on their faces.
Alexei Mazaratov, "Belarusians and the market".