Society

Joint education projects promote business growth in border areas

GOMEL, 12 January (BelTA) – A cooperation agreement in education between border areas of Belarus and Ukraine will contribute to the development of the regions, Education Minister of Belarus Sergei Maskevich told BelTA. The minister is set to take part in a ceremony to sign a cooperation agreement between the education departments of Gomel Oblast and Chernihiv Oblast in Gomel on 12 January. According to the minister, in the modern world regions come to play a bigger role in the social development of a country. Therefore, cooperation of regional authorities, joint projects and proposals should be approved by the public and upheld by the central government. “Cooperation agreements in education by border areas will promote business growth and help create new joint ventures, raise investments and promote innovations,” Sergei Maskevich said. Talking about the plans, the minister pointed to joint projects stipulated by the TEMPUS program, scientific conferences on quality of technological processes and systems, and a seminar on free software in education and other programs. Sergei Maskevich said that Gomel Oblast is an experimental ground for researching and monitoring the quality of secondary education in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. The experiment was launched in 2011 in the border areas. Taking part in it are Gomel Oblast (Belarus), Belgorod Oblast (Russia) and Chernihiv Oblast (Ukraine). After the research project is over, common secondary education standards will be developed.