The final stage of the republican subject olympiads, in which 198 gifted schoolchildren and gymnasium students from Vitebsk region took part, has recently concluded. Dmitry Khoma, Head of the Education Department of the Regional Executive Committee, spoke about the intellectual potential of the region's youth.
— This year, students won 70 diplomas and 15 letters of commendation. This is less than last year, when there were 80 diplomas, but any victory is valuable, and any result should contribute to development.
— In which subjects are our students traditionally strong? Why?
— These are Belarusian language (11 diplomas), computer science (8), geography (7), physics (6), and chemistry (6). This year, results in English have improved. At the same time, the work with students in history, social studies, and labor training leaves much to be desired. A couple of years ago, students won up to 16 diplomas in these subjects, and now only 4, which has, of course, lowered the overall result.
Among the educational institutions where work with gifted children is traditionally strong, I would note Vitebsk Gymnasiums No. 1, 2, 8, and Polotsk Gymnasium No. 2. There are also successes at the republican stage of olympiads among rural students, for example, in the Drisvyaty Kindergarten-Secondary School of Braslav District, Prozorki and Kirovo Kindergartens-Secondary Schools of Glubokoe District, Krasnoluki Kindergarten-Secondary School of Chashniki District, Dunilovichi Kindergarten-Secondary School and Voropayevo Secondary School of Postavy District, Secondary School No. 1 of Gorodok, and others.
Among
educators who year after year prepare Olympiad winners deserve special mention: Vitebsk stars: Informatics teachers - Veronika Laktina, Biology - Alla Moralina, Chemistry - Ruslan Shkleinik, Physics - Elena Marutko, Geography - Sergey Krivenko, Mathematics - Alexander Shugol and Tamara Bezlyudova, French language – Valentina Perestoronina; from Polotsk - Physics teachers Olga Dragun and Elena Grigoryeva, Belarusian language and literature Elena Kozlova; from Gluboksky district - Geography teacher Elizaveta Dmitrieva and Belarusian language and literature Tatyana Bortkevich, and many others.
Of course, each educator and their student has their own unique formula for success, but the main components are high professionalism, tremendous diligence, and self-belief.
— What support do teachers and their students have today?
— Winners of the republican Olympiad receive awards from the Special Fund of the President of the Republic of Belarus for the Support of Gifted Students. The best students and educators are also recognized with certificates and prizes from the regional executive committee. For teachers, this is 10 base units for each Olympiad winner, and forstudents depending on the degree of the diploma – from 10 to 20 basic units. For winners
of the regional and republican stages of olympiads, there are benefits when entering
universities. Thus, according to the legislation, winners (holders of diplomas of I, II, III
degree) of international olympiads (in accordance with the list approved
by the Ministry of Education) and the republican olympiad in academic subjects (in the year of admission) are enrolled in higher
educational institutions without entrance examinations, when applying for specialties for which this subject
is the first profile test. The exception is "International
Relations", "International Law", "Jurisprudence", "Economic Law",
"Public Administration and Law". For these specialties, 100 points are awarded for one of the entrance examination subjects.
Recently, it has become possible to
enter a number of pedagogical specialties without entrance examinations,
also for winners of the regional stage of subject olympiads.
—
What do you think needs to be done to have more olympiad participants?
—
It is necessary to identify a gifted student at the school level, to create a situation of success for him. Much also depends on the teacher's own training, their ability to work on the child's development. It is important that this process is year-round.
And for this, it is necessary to use the opportunities of summer specialized health camps, and throughout the year to conduct in-school and district (city) Olympiads in academic subjects for primary school students and middle school students. The potential of teachers from regional universities should be used more widely, author's classes should be created for the best educators, and so-called gifted children's schools should be opened, where, in addition to regular lessons, in-depth training in academic subjects will be provided.
Currently, there are 25 gymnasiums and one lyceum in the region, admission to which is competitive. Therefore, each of these institutions must achieve high results not only in education but also in the Olympiad movement.
Special emphasis is also placed on specialized education and pre-specialized training for students, as the region has accumulated colossal experience in this area since 1997. I believe that all of this together will form the foundation of our success.
Alexander Kutynko. Photos by Anton Stepanishchev and Dmitry Osipov. "Vitebskiye Vesti".
