Education Minister: Belarus is determined to join Bologna Process

         Belarus is determined to join the Bologna Process, Belarusian Education Minister Mikhail Zhuravkov said during his meeting with a delegation of experts of the Council of Europe to discuss the Belarusian education system. “In our work towards joining the Bologna Process we have come to the point when we need to develop a legal framework. Now we can say with confidence that Belarus has a two-stage system of education with bachelor programs and master programs. We have started implementing a system of continuous education taking into consideration the two-stage system of higher education. We have introduced the possibility of getting PhD through thesis defense. Besides, now the PhD defense can be conducted in English. All the Belarusian universities started to run courses in English,” Mikhail Zhuravkov said. International experts note that Belarus is ready to join the Bologna Process. “Of course, Belarus has its specifics as any other state, but in general we comply with the guidelines of the Bologna convention. One of our main goals for the future is to improve the academic mobility and to ensure initial employment of university graduates,” Mikhail Zhuravkov emphasized.