About 500 young specialists will join the ranks of educators in the Vitebsk region

About 500 young specialists will start working in educational institutions of the Vitebsk region in the new academic year, the education department of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee reported.

"The region is fully provided with teaching staff. In the 2016/2017 academic year, 480 young specialists will arrive at the region's educational institutions," the department stated. Responding to the question of whether young teachers stay at their assigned places, the department noted that the retention rate of young specialists is currently almost 70% (in 2011 it was 65%).

"This was largely facilitated by the assistance of local authorities in solving housing issues. Thus, over the past five years, with the support of district and rural executive committees, 92 houses and 178 apartments have been allocated to young specialist teachers, and about 400 places in dormitories have been provided," the department noted. As for students, on September 1, more than 12,000 first-graders will come to the region's schools. On the first lesson on Knowledge Day, themed "We are bequeathed to protect the world!", they will all receive a gift from the President - the textbook "Belarus - Our Motherland". In total, on September 1, about 111,000 schoolchildren will sit at desks in the region, for whom 423 general secondary education institutions will open their doors. These include 29 primary schools, 75 basic schools, 291 secondary schools, 25 gymnasiums, 1 lyceum, and 2 cadet schools. Transportation to places of study and upbringing will be organized for almost 10,000 students and pupils, of whom 82% will be transported by school buses (there are 227 of them in the region), about 16% by regular buses, and the rest by transport of agricultural organizations, automotive enterprises, and private transport.

Alena Tikhonova - BELTA.