Vitebsk State University has created a powerful pedagogical school renowned abroad

November 26, Vitebsk / Sergey Kochetov - BELTA /. Vitebsk State University named after P. Masherov has created a strong pedagogical school, known far beyond the borders of Belarus. This was stated today to journalists, answering a question from a BELTA correspondent, by Minister of Education 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 centenary of the Vitebsk university is a very important event for Belarus, the minister noted. "Those who teach children must have a very good education, and the Vitebsk university, which was founded as a pedagogical institute, has always met this task," Alexander Radkov is confident. Today, this higher education institution is developing as a classical university and has strong pedagogical and methodological schools; scientific schools in philology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, and a famous art school continuing the traditions of Yuri Pen, Kazimir Malevich, and Marc Chagall have been established at the university. It is at VSU that a good tradition of studying astronomy has been laid and is developing, and thanks to the Vitebsk teacher Vladimir Golubev, Belarus has a very high-quality textbook on astronomy. Summing up the past century in its history, the university looks confidently into the future and makes plans for the future. The material and technical base of the university will be further developed. According to Alexander Radkov, the plans include the construction of another academic building, a swimming pool, dormitories, including for foreign students. "Our education is in demand abroad, and Vitebsk University actively cooperates with China, Turkmenistan, and other countries where young people strive to receive a quality education precisely in Vitebsk," the minister noted. The Ministry of Education presented the jubilee with an information laboratory equipped with modern computer technology, and also provided assistance in equipping a language laboratory and a creative laboratory. During the expanded meeting of the University Council, Alexander Radkov read out a greeting from the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko and wished the staff new successes in the development of the famous educational institution. Delegations from the University of Bialystok (Poland), East China University of Technology and Hohhot Vocational Institute (China), Tatar State University of Humanities and Pedagogy and Mari State University (Russia), Vinnytsia State Pedagogical University named after M. Kotsyubinsky and Kremenchug State Polytechnic University named after M. Ostrogradsky (Ukraine) arrived to congratulate their colleagues on the anniversary. The Vitebsk Teachers' Institute was opened in November 1910 to train teachers for higher primary schools and became the first educational institution of its kind in the territory of modern Belarus. The institute had a two-year city school for practical training of students with a three-year course of study. Young men of all ranks and estates no younger than 16 years old were admitted to the institute. Each entrant signed an undertaking to work for at least 6 years as a teacher of a city school according to the distribution of the educational authorities. The staff of the university included a director, 15 teachers, a religious instructor, a doctor, and a clerk. The institute taught pedagogy, Russian and Church Slavonic languages, arithmetic, algebra, geometry, history, geography, natural history and physics, drawing and painting, penmanship, singing and gymnastics, and manual labor. The Vitebsk Teachers' Institute existed until 1917, after the revolution it was transferred to the jurisdiction of Narkompros and transformed into a pedagogical institute. The university gained the status of a classical university on September 1, 1995, as a result of the reorganization of the pedagogical institute, and in February 1998 it was named after Pyotr Masherov, a graduate of the Vitebsk university. The university trains specialists in the fields of pedagogy, psychology, humanities, natural sciences and mathematics, art and design, law, social work, and physical education. In total, the university trains specialists with higher education in 8 profiles, 40 specialties, 15 fields, and 35 specializations in 11 faculties. Today, more than 4.7 thousand students study at VSU on a full-time basis and almost 5.5 thousand on a part-time basis.-0-