Same number of lessons of Belarusian, Russian for primary school in Belarus in 2016

Beginning with the 2016-17 school year, a number of lessons of Belarusian will be equal to that of lessons of Russian.

“Starting from the second form, there will be the same number of [academic] hours allocated for learning Russian and Belarusian language and literature, regardless of the language of instruction,” Iryna Bulaukina, a chief specialist of the Belarusian Education Ministry, said on Thursday.

According to Ms Bulaukina, this change will be introduced gradually, first for second-formers, a year later – in the 2nd and 3d forms, two years later – in the 2nd, 3d and 4 forms.

“As a result, we will have gradually shifted to the same number of hours of learning the Belarusian language [as that of Russian], which we have from grade 5 through 11,” the official says.

Photo: Alessandro Vincenzi