Landscape designers and specialists for robotic farms are starting to be trained in the Vitebsk region

May 18, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. Professional lyceums and colleges of the Vitebsk region will begin training landscape designers and specialists for robotic farms for the first time from the new academic year. The list of professions for which vocational training is provided in the region's vocational-technical educational institutions will be supplemented with a dozen new qualifications, the deputy head of the education department of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, Sergey Kovalenko, told a BELTA correspondent. The need for training workers in new specialties and qualifications is dictated by the region's needs. For example, there is not a single professional landscape designer in the regional center yet, so the vocational-technical college in the village of Oktyabrsky will train workers for park and garden construction specifically for Vitebsk. The technical re-equipment of agricultural production has required the training of workers for the maintenance and operation of high-tech equipment - robotic farms, and electronics-intensive machinery. For the first time, the Vidzy Professional Lyceum, which will soon become a college, will begin training technicians-mechanics and drivers with secondary vocational education for the automotive industry. Training specialists in new qualifications and specialties also involves the acquisition of new educational equipment. Annually, funds are allocated for these purposes in the region in accordance with the regional program for the development of vocational education. This year, it is planned to purchase equipment worth Br5.4 billion. These funds will be primarily directed towards strengthening the material and technical base of agricultural schools. According to Sergey Kovalenko, now is the time to create interregional professional colleges that would train workers taking into account the needs of specific districts. The education department of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee has submitted a similar initiative to the Ministry of Education. It is possible that the first such college will be established in the Orsha district in two years. Sergey Kovalenko noted that the region has already prepared proposals for the concept of vocational education development for the period 2001-2015 and submitted them for consideration by the Ministry of Education. In the Vitebsk region, 31 vocational-technical educational institutions train workers in more than 60 professions and over 100 qualifications. The region has 6 vocational-technical colleges, 22 professional lyceums, and 3 vocational schools. This year, it is planned to admit 4.5 thousand graduates of basic and secondary general education schools for training. -0-