Belarusian State University (BSU) is the oldest and by far the biggest educational institution in Belarus. It was founded in 1921 and nowadays it is made of 17 faculties with more than 24 thousands of students.
However, the university, despite reasonably high professional expertises, has never been known for freedoms of thought and self-expression. According to information of the Committee For Protection of the Repressed, Solidarity, (it was founded to help expelled students and those fired for political reasons) in 2006 alone 41 students were expelled from the University for social and political activities. “Politically unreliable” students were expelled from the university in the following years as well.
The latest striking and probably the most publicized example was an expulsion a law faculty student, a spokesperson of the Young Front Tatsyana Shapuska. The girl was expelled for participation in the civil society conference of the Eastern Partnership Program of the European Union. Her demonstrative expulsion coincided with welcoming the Belarusian State University as a member of the European University Association, an organisation for which promotion of academic freedoms is one of the main aims. Also EUA regards as its other goals the student cooperation as well as a close collaboration of European associations and organisations in promotion of the European values. Overall, EUA is one of the biggest international organisations, which closely works with intergovernmental and other European structures and influences the development of higher education in the European region. BSU was accepted into EUA from a general list of universities along with several other Eastern European educational institutions.
“As far as I know, the process of accepting the Belarusian State University to the European University Association was initiated long ago, and it is just a coincidence that the decision was made together with the new wave of expulsions. I think that Belarusian universities should aspire to become members of such associations, and accept international standards of education, but this would require a lot of primarily internal work. Besides, such a membership does not exclude pinpoint sanctions. As far as I know, Foreign Ministries of some European countries are already getting prepared to impose pinpoint sanctions against the administration of the Belarusian State University because of opposition activists’ expulsions,” Tatsyana Shaputska said to Charter97 news service.
Besides, Tatsyana Shaputska believes that the BSU does not have enough influence to change approaches of the EUA.
“The BSU is not a university that can impose its standards to the European system of education. That is why the BSU would be obliged to accept European standards. In case if evictions of politically motivated students continue, the membership of the BSU in this association will be rather short lived,” Ms Shaputska shared.
Now BSU, the most authoritative educational institution in Belarus, will have to accept the European standards; academic freedoms will have to be a rule and a norm above all. In case if it does not happen, harsh sanctions can be applied by EUA.
