Minsk to host international conference on vocational education

The forum will be held at the National Library of Belarus. Taking part in it will be company chiefs, scientists and experts from the CIS member states, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Lithuania, China and other countries. The conference will be attended, among others, by Education Specialist of the European Training Foundation, Country Director for Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova Olena Bekh, representative of the World Bank Igor Kheyfets, Chief of UNESCO's Section for Technical and Vocational Education and Training Borhene Chakroun, researcher at the Austrian Institute for Research on Vocational Training Martin Mayerl, Vice-President of the Russian Academy of Education, Academician Viktor Bolotov, President of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Kazakhstan Askarbek Kusainov. Belarus will be represented by Education Minister Sergei Maskevich, First Deputy Education Minister Alexander Zhuk, rectors of Belarusian universities, heads of vocational training institutions and other interested persons.

The conference will discuss ways to ensure sustainable development and high efficiency of vocational education in the context of the global economic crisis, depletion of natural resources, depopulation and aging in many countries worldwide. The participants of the forum will discuss integration of labor market needs into vocational training, vocational education for sustainable development, and strategies for continuous vocational training, Kazinform has learnt from BelTA.

Investments into vocational training are among Belarus' priorities, because vocational training is viewed as a powerful instrument to reach strategic development goals. In the modern-day conditions, it makes sense to set up special training centers equipped with cutting-edge and advanced machinery and equipment.

The conference is organized by the Education Ministry of Belarus and the Republican Institute for Vocational Education.