A. Lukashenko: talented people must be in demand in their homeland

May 28, Minsk / Vladimir Matveev - BELTA /. Talented people should be in demand in their homeland. This was stated by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko today, meeting with gifted students and pupils, the best representatives of talented youth, according to a BELTA correspondent. "When determining development priorities, we focused on talent and intellect. While our neighbors are only forming national systems for identifying and developing young talents, this system has been operating in Belarus for the second decade," the President noted. He added: "On the eve of our meeting, I instructed a group of specialists to figure out what the ultimate results are after creating a database of talented and gifted youth. The results are sad." The head of state recalled that he had once instructed to create a database of talented youth so that their abilities and achievements would be in demand in the country in various fields of activity. As Minister of Education Sergey Maskevich, who was present at the meeting, noted, there are already more than 5.5 thousand people in this database today. "And how many of these 5.5 thousand are in demand in our country, employed, working in accordance with their talent? I am sure no one will answer precisely," the President remarked. "This indicates that, unfortunately, the state and those people, members of the government, to whom this was entrusted, are performing their functional duties in this part of labor activity extremely poorly. And we will correct this." "It is unacceptable for the state to squander the most valuable thing - talents," Alexander Lukashenko emphasized. As the President noted, not only financial resources are invested in the development of the potential of talented and gifted young people. "Do not think that these are only your achievements. These are primarily the achievements of teachers and your parents. It was they who laid the foundation for your achievements, the development of talent, natural gifts," he added. "The fact that secondary school education is free, and no one pays for university education either, does not mean that it is free at all. It costs the state very dearly," said Alexander Lukashenko. "We all together: our society, parents, teachers, and the state - support talents. I am sure that there is not a single gifted and talented young person in our country who has been left without the attention of the state. A system has been created where you can easily express yourself, and it doesn't matter what kind of families you come from - rich or poor - if you have talent, you will definitely express yourself," the head of state is confident. At the same time, he stressed that talented people should primarily be in demand in their own country: "We found you, identified you, developed your talent, so why can't we use this talent within the country for the development of our state. If someone goes abroad - so be it, but the state must organize this and derive benefit from it." "But I am informed that even young people who have gone abroad and received education there in specialties that are not available in our universities cannot return here and find normal employment because issues with diplomas have not been resolved," Alexander Lukashenko noted indignantly. "If a good specialist comes from abroad, what difference does it make what kind of diploma they have!" Addressing the participants of the meeting, the head of state noted that many laureates and scholarship holders of special presidential funds have already been recognized, some have become scientists, specialists, artists, and some have achieved world fame. According to Alexander Lukashenko, the energy of young people is called upon to give new impetus to the development of Belarusian art. "After all, today it is important not only to preserve traditions but also to create the cultural face of our era, to encourage modern artistic directions, to give youth creative freedom, recognizing their right to their own vision of the world," said the head of state. Talents are needed today not only in science and creativity but also in public life. "The state supports children's and youth associations that help to nurture young leaders with an active civic position, who represent the future of our country," the President emphasized. Alexander Lukashenko expressed special words of gratitude to the teachers: "He who can ignite the flame of creativity from a spark in a young heart deserves respect." Addressing the best representatives of gifted and talented youth, Alexander Lukashenko said: "You are truly great people. But remember: we will lead you by the hand for a while. And then you will also have to compete, fight in this life, and you can always win because you are talented." At the same time, the President stressed: "Talent is one or two percent of success, and everything else is hard, wild work." Alexander Lukashenko wished the participants of the meeting further success: "I wish that your talent will be in demand in our country. This is primarily my task, I have set it, and I will ensure that it is in demand here in our homeland." -0-