Education: Patriotism and loyalty above all

Pavel Tereshkovich

Summary

In 2025, the escalation of totalitarian practices was clearly manifested through the instrumentalization of education to ensure consolidation of the ruling regime. Key government initiatives in this area included political indoctrination emphasizing the personality cult of Lukashenko, militarization, and the ongoing political repression. These processes were accompanied by Russification campaigns, carried out both by the Lukashenko administration and Russian “soft power” agencies. The deterioration of the education system has become increasingly apparent, notably reflected in the declining standings of Belarusian universities in international rankings.

Trends

Political indoctrination

In 2025, political indoctrination remained a central element of the official educational framework. A notable example was the release of a new textbook on recent Belarusian history, which exemplified ideological influence on educational material.1 The textbook relied on Soviet historiographical paradigms, emphasizing the glorification of Lukashenko’s regime, and was fully aligned with narratives justifying Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.

Even the music curriculum was politicized, featuring a list of works “aimed at fostering civic identity and patriotism.” A prominent trend over the past year was the increased emphasis on Soviet legacy, including celebrations of Vladimir Lenin’s birthday and the October Revolution Day.

In 2025, the cultivation of the Lukashenko personality cult was significantly intensified, especially against the backdrop of the formal presidential election process. Beyond the traditional coercion of students to vote early and participate in campaign activities, widespread practices included group video greetings celebrating victory, public displays of loyalty (“You are the People’s President,” or performances of the song “Our Batka is Cool”), and participation in pickets along Lukashenko’s convoy route during the inauguration.

Great emphasis was placed on promoting the book “Our President.”2 For instance, Belarusian State University Rector Korol delivered a special heuristic lecture titled “Time Chose Us.”3 A prominent display of propaganda was the public Santa wish-granting event, where a schoolchild was presented with “Our President” as a desired New Year’s gift. In recent years, a notable trend has been the lowering of the age for indoctrination, with the Lukashenko personality cult being promoted even among preschool children.

Militarization

Militaristic themes and rhetoric remained a key element of ideological indoctrination. A distinguished trait of the analyzed period was the active utilization of the network of military-patriotic clubs, cadet schools, and military personnel in organizing events with schoolchildren and students. These gatherings increasingly included demonstrations of weapons and the conduct of militarized games and competitions. Such events are particularly concerning when held in kindergartens, as the young participants are especially vulnerable to this type of rhetoric.

In 2025, plans were announced to extend the duration of war games for schoolchildren from five to ten days. These exercises are conducted within the framework of the Initial Military Training course introduced in 2023, which covers weapons handling, basic shooting skills, and the use of hand grenades. Last year, university rectors were also involved in training sessions, practicing scenarios such as “conducting combat operations in populated areas.”4

Last year, a distinct focus emerged on establishing a comprehensive system for training specialists aligned with the needs of the military-industrial complex. This included the development of a network of engineering classes, the National Children’s Technopark, and specialized higher education institutions. Notably, the National Children’s Technopark launched a dedicated program5 for training UAV operators. Seventeen universities planned to open specialized classes to support these initiatives. Throughout the year, discussions also centered on creating “Belarusian Harvard” — an elite school of natural sciences and technology aimed at training top-tier engineers, primarily in fields relevant to military applications.6

Political repression

In 2025, educators and students continued to be targets of repression, facing imprisonment, politically motivated dismissals, restrictions on certain professions, and intimidation tactics. While some political prisoners were released, the number of teachers convicted on political charges continued to grow.

Most cases of dismissals due to political reasons and bans on professional activities remain unreported, often due to coercion to resign voluntarily or non-renewal of contracts. The true scope of repression can only be estimated indirectly. For example, the Education Development Program for 2026–2030, published at the end of 2025, revealed an unprecedentedly low percentage of university faculty with academic degrees—only 40 %.7 Compared to the 2019/2020 academic year, this marks a decline of 7.3 %, or approximately 2,700 individuals, representing 28.5 % of all degree-holding faculty.8 Additionally, in 2025, a new version of legislation concerning children’s rights was enacted, legalizing the exclusion of individuals who committed “extremist” crimes from working with children.9

A prominent feature of 2025 was the widespread use of public show trials to intimidate students and schoolchildren, often conducted in front of their peers. Previously, such trials were primarily aimed at preventing drug abuse, but last year, they were carried out under typical “political” charges.

As in previous years, repression continued to target professional communities of teachers and educators: the Vasminoh educational platform, the Uchitelskaya and Nastaunik.info Telegram channels were designated as extremist entities. Furthermore, repression extended beyond the national borders. For example, the European Humanities University and the Belarusian Academy online platform (affiliated with a Polish university), both holding official status as foreign institutions, were also targeted.

Russification and Russian “soft power” initiatives

Throughout Lukashenko’s rule, the Belarusian education system has undergone persistent Russification. Between 2005 and 2024, the percentage of secondary school students studying in Belarusian decreased from 23.0 % to 8.2 %, with the figures in Vitebsk and Mogilev Regions dropping to 4.6 % and 6.6 %, respectively.10

This Russification has been accompanied by unprecedented efforts by Russian “soft power” institutions, namely, the five branches of Rossotrudnichestvo Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States Affairs, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation (usually their number does not exceed two). Their primary focus is on offering scholarships at Russian universities, which have increased 18-fold since 2019, reaching 1,300 scholarships annually.11 Beyond this, the activities of Russian Houses are purely ideological, including propaganda supporting the war in Ukraine, promoting Putin’s personality cult, organizing trips for Belarusian youth to “patriotic forums” in Russia, and similar initiatives.

International contacts

Belarus’s international cooperation in education has been driven solely by ideological motives. China has evolved as the country’s top partner. For instance, a delegation from Beijing University visited Belarus, and Belarusian State University established the Belarus–China Center for Fundamental Scientific Research in mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology. Officials report that China accounts for up to 20 % of all international agreements of Belarusian State University.12 Notable developments last year also included establishing educational relations with North Korea, the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, and the military junta in Myanmar.

Degradation of the education system

Widespread repression has led to a significant shortage of qualified teachers across all levels and a general decline in the education system. This is most clearly seen in higher education. Belarusian universities are virtually absent from the Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities and Times Higher Education World University Rankings, while in the QS World University Rankings, the country’s leading Belarusian State University fell by 60 positions over the past year.13 The latest effort by the Ministry of Education — the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities — fell short of expectations, with only eight Belarusian universities ranking within the top 5,000 worldwide.14

Conclusion

By 2025, the transformation of the education system into a tool for total control over students and teachers continued unabated. The educational agenda focused heavily on activities aimed at ideological indoctrination and militarization. Notably, the propaganda age threshold was lowered to include even kindergarten children.

A clear push to establish a personality cult around Lukashenko became apparent. Efforts to militarize the system, including training specialists for the military-industrial complex starting from the school level, increased significantly.

Political repression persisted, involving politically motivated dismissals, intimidation of students, and the designation of educational communities and institutions — including foreign ones — as extremist.

International engagement has been solely driven by ideological motives, involving interactions with some of the most notorious contemporary totalitarian regimes.

The mass repression of the recent years and the prioritization of ideological objectives over educational goals have led to a general deterioration of the education system. As a result, Belarusian universities are increasingly falling behind in international rankings.

It is highly probable that the system will continue to experience broader and deeper ideological indoctrination, militarization, and international isolation, ultimately contributing to its ongoing decline.