Vitebsk State University ensures the region's high innovative potential - A. Radkov

November 26, Vitebsk / Sergey Kochetov - BELTA /. The high innovative potential of the Vitebsk region is created primarily by the high-quality work of the staff of the Vitebsk State University named after P. Masherov. This opinion was expressed today to journalists, in response to a question from a BELTA correspondent, by the Minister of Education of Belarus Alexander Radkov. In Vitebsk, he is taking part in an expanded meeting of the VSU Council dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the university. The anniversary celebrations at the university are held under the motto "A Century of Enlightenment," and the next historical stage of the university's development should be a period of innovative enlightenment, the minister emphasized. "Today, it is not enough to have knowledge; one must be able to competently manage this knowledge and actively use it, therefore, the next stage of the university's development will be primarily related to innovations," believes Alexander Radkov. Belarus has chosen and is actively moving along the path of innovative development; education and upbringing systems should be built to meet this task. According to the minister, today, creatively thinking specialists are in demand in all spheres of activity, capable of creating innovations and actively applying them in practice. In this regard, the Vitebsk region has a very high potential. "It is enough to say that the region is always among the top three leaders in the number of winners of international and republican subject Olympiads, and the Luzhesnyanskaya boarding school-gymnasium for gifted children operates in the region, the positive experience of which is spread throughout all regions," noted Alexander Radkov. The Vitebsk University actively implements innovations. Thus, 9 educational, scientific, and production complexes have been created at the university, designed to improve the quality of the educational process, activate scientific activities, and facilitate the maximum adaptation of university graduates to practical work conditions immediately after graduation. 5 educational, scientific, and consulting centers have been organized in cooperation with educational institutions. This innovative form of cooperation makes it possible to ensure long-term research and educational-methodological interaction between the university and general education schools. It allows for improving the quality of education for schoolchildren and contributes to the development of professional competencies of teachers and educators, and the implementation of innovations and modern technologies in the educational process of both the university and the city's secondary schools. In addition, a scientific, information, and methodological center "Actual Problems of Social Assistance and Support for Citizens (Families) in Difficult Life Situations" has been established at the university. In 2010, the Vitebsk State University certified its quality management system (QMS) for compliance with the STB ISO 9001-2009 standard and the German accreditation system DIN EN ISO 9001-2008. The implementation and certification of the QMS enhance the prestige and competitiveness of VSU at the international level, enabling the university to actively integrate into the European educational space.-0-