The optimization of the school education network will continue in the Vitebsk region

April 20, Vitebsk / Olga Bogacheva - BELTA /. The optimization of the school education network will continue in the Vitebsk region. This was announced today at a press conference dedicated to the completion of the current academic year by the head of the education department of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, Ivan Shchurok, BELTA correspondent reports. According to him, the number one problem for the education system is the demographic situation. The insufficiently high birth rate necessitates the restructuring of educational institutions. In this regard, according to preliminary data, 10 schools will have to be closed in the region by the beginning of the new academic year. These include one secondary school, four basic schools, five primary schools, as well as the Voropayevo boarding school for children with disabilities. In addition, another 22 schools are to be reorganized. As a result of the restructuring of educational institutions, 136 teachers will lose their jobs. However, they will not remain unemployed, Ivan Shchurok assured. Places where they will be transferred are already being determined. In addition, 336 children from closed and reorganized schools will be transported to neighboring educational institutions. Along with this, a number of new educational institutions and facilities will appear in the region, Ivan Shchurok reported. Thus, by the new academic year, it is planned to open a school for 930 students in the new Bilevo microdistrict of the regional center, and to complete the construction of additional blocks for Secondary School No. 1 in Glubokoye. In the current academic year, there are 598 schools in the Vitebsk region, with 119,000 students. -0-