Yesterday, January 26, 2026, the President of the Republic of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, held a meeting on the creation of an educational center for training personnel in promising fields, with the participation of representatives from the government, the Presidential Administration, the National Academy of Sciences, the Minsk City Executive Committee, as well as higher educational institutions.
The dean of the Faculty of Automotive and Tractor Engineering at the Belarusian National Technical University, Sergei Skirkovsky, also participated in the working meeting. He spoke about the goals of the meeting, its outcomes, and the opportunities it opens up for the country's youth.
– The main message of the meeting is to set the task of finding and attracting talented youth, providing conditions for scientific growth, and ensuring that youth ideas benefit our state. The goal of creating the center is to train highly qualified personnel and ensure the technological sovereignty of our state. The issue of the status and form of the organization of the institution is still under development.
For students, the center will become a place where they can take a unique training course with elements of design and dual education.
– The training will be carried out in high-demand areas, within which, as the head of state said, we cannot afford to stop, we should not even be walking, but must run in order to keep pace with the times. And the creation of such a center is one of the ways to stay up to date, – noted the Dean.
At BNTU, and in particular at the Faculty of Automotive and Tractor,there are many specialties where students are trained in in-demand professions. Such training is impossible without the creation of modern laboratories and competence centers.
– The in-demand areas at ATF are engine building, automobile manufacturing, and tractor manufacturing. These areas are promising and receive considerable attention at the faculty. Last year, a design bureau was established at ATF, and currently the opening of the BELAZ competence center is being prepared. Additionally, the issue of creating laboratories in collaboration with the Minsk Tractor Works, the S. I. Vavilov Minsk Mechanical Plant, and the Minsk Motor Plant is currently being thoroughly worked out.
Attention to engineering education will never fade, because engineers are the ones who create our world and make it better. Their developments continuously improve people's quality of life.
– An engineer is not even a profession, but a vocation, because an engineer is someone who creates something new. Today, there are many technologies, including artificial intelligence, that replace some professions, but for an engineer, technology is an auxiliary tool that will never replace a real specialist. A highly skilled, well-trained engineer is the foundation of the country's future.
The working meeting with the First set the course for the further development of the education system. We thank Sergei Vladimirovich for his comments.
