Over 5,000 people will become first-year students at Vitebsk region universities

Five state higher education institutions of the Vitebsk region have put a stop to the four-week admissions marathon. The wave of the admission campaign covered 5570 individuals eager to obtain a student ID, which is the number of people who applied for their chosen specialties. However, only 5148 managed to pass the rigorous competitive exams for full-time and part-time budget and paid forms of study.

The closer the admission campaign's resolution approached, the more intriguing and heated the process of submitting documents became, which could be followed online on the websites of Vitebsk region universities. Internet monitoring allowed applicants to finally decide on their chosen field of future activity and assess their chances in the educational competition based on the results of the exams taken. The last minutes literally became decisive – the upper limit of the competition for budget places could increase at any moment. The strongest applicants confidently outdid their rivals on the field of knowledge, who initially held leading positions at the start of the "race," thus the latter became contenders only for paid places.

The specialty "Law" at PSU named after P. Masherov kept everyone in constant tension throughout the admission campaign, topping the list of the most in-demand specialties – 73 applicants tried to share only 2 chances to study on a budget basis, resulting in a competition of 36.5 people per place. It was also quite competitive at the Law Faculty of PSU – 18. High indicators were demonstrated by "Social Communications," which appeared on the market of specialties last year, and "Logistics" of the same institution – 8 and 5 respectively.

— In five state universities, "veterinary sanitation and expertise" at VSMU, "design" at VSTU, "Romance-Germanic philology" at VSU named after P. Masherov, where the competition was more than 2 people per place, as well as financial and economic, socio-pedagogical profiles, turned out to be quite common, — stated **Vladimir Bednyakov, chief specialist of the department of professional, secondary specialized and higher education of the regional executive committee's education department**. — The average competition in universities was 1.5 people per place, and last year it was 1.4.

The highest passing score (322) was achieved by a future first-year student of VSMU who chose the specialty "pharmacy". An applicant who scored 97 points based on the results of 3 centralized tests and the average grade of the certificate can count on obtaining a student ID for the specialty "mechanical engineering technology" at PSU. By the way, an additional enrollment was announced for this specialty of the full-time department at VSTU, as well as for light industry specialties. This system made it possible to prevent a shortage of personnel and give applicants a second chance to expand the student body.

Taking into account the additional enrollment in 5 universities, with a plan of 2309 people, 3427 applicants took part in the entrance exams for the budget form. According to **Andrei Saltanovich, head of the sector of the Regional Committee for State Control**, out of 2233 enrolled in the full-time department on a budget basis, 185 future students are medalists, and 18 have diplomas with honors. 31 people became first-year students out of competition based on benefits defined by the University Admission Rules, and 17 without entrance exams. At the same time, 49 foreign citizens were enrolled.

Control over compliance with legislative requirements during entrance examinations was carried out by the regional commission for controlling the progress of preparation and conduct of entrance examinations in higher and secondary specialized education institutions, consisting of 8 people, and by the relevant control commissions in 5 higher state educational institutions of the region. They reviewed and responded to 5 oral appeals received from applicants and their parents. All appeals were of a consultative nature and mainly concerned issues of admission and education, and the procedure for submitting documents, — noted Andrey Anatolyevich.

In general, entrance examinations in state higher education institutions of the Vitebsk region were conducted in a favorable moral and psychological climate. Andrey Saltanovich emphasized that with the help of a set of control measures, the main goal of the regional commission and the commissions of educational institutions was achieved — to ensure citizens equal opportunities for admission to higher education institutions of the region, as well as the protection of their legal rights and interests.

Volga Bulavka, "Vitebskie vesti".