Non-formal education - Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum

This segment of the non-formal education providers is a network of educational and consulting
organizations, private training centers and individual entrepreneurs. In 2008 more than 60 structures
(consulting firms, business schools, training centers, recruitment agencies, training centers, etc.)more
or less actively promoted were submitted on the internet. Today their number has increased, but not
significantly. We can speak of a mature market of commercial non-formal education in Belarus, which
is mostly concentrated in Minsk and very few covers regions 21 .
A group of profit providers of non-formal education, more likely than non-profit institutions, operates
autonomously. They are in a highly competitive not only with each other but also with a number of relevant
government agencies and the various training centers of further education in the state structures. Their
main goal isgaining a profit, as they tend to follow “the client” and to create educational products that
are in demand in the education market. Therefore, businesses are more focused on the situation on
demand and follow the fashion needs of customers, sometimes even shaping them.
Commercial providers of non-formal education generally work with two target groups:
– Staff and executives of various forms of property, mostly private companies: it is actually a
business education which also includes corporate training;
– Solvent citizens, mainly urban residents: they provide a variety of programs designed to meet
the professional and personal demands of consumers of educational services.
Business education is an educational activity for the preparation of professional managers who
perform management functions in companies and business organizations operating in a market
economy, but also includes staff development of organizations of various forms of ownership in order
to optimize and improve the efficiency of business processes. Today, business education in Belarus
is developing both in formal and non-formal adult education and basically is offered in the following
areas 22 :
– Management training through the second higher (economic) education;
– Training on the various programs of master training, especially MBA (Master of Business
Administration);
– Retraining and advanced training of managerial personnel;
– Applied short-term seminars and workshops in the field of business;
– Corporate training.
The system of economic education of managers in Belarus has been developed since the mid 90’s
of XX century. At the root of this process, there were three business schools, only one of which was
private: Graduate School of Business and Management BSEU (in 1996, the first graduation of Masters
of Economic Sciences with National diploma was made), Institute of Business and Management
Technology BSU (the first Russian and English MBA program, delivered by a state-recognized
diplomawas organized), IPM Business School (where the first full-length system of distance learning
masters was tested). Some attempts of modern business education Grodno Yanka Kupala State
University did, but in 2007 training for the academic preparation of MBA was stopped. Thus, in this
segment of the business education both public and private providers’interests intersect. The most vivid
the “intersection of interests” can be seen in the MBA programs, which tasks in general can be briefly
described as follows:
– To prepare students for the roles of leaders and reformers in the business;
– To develop their strategic thinking, entrepreneurial attitude to innovation;
– To develop in students the ability to apply knowledge in the areas of business, a creative
approach to business issues in different situations;
– To form and develop in students interpersonal skills;
– Develop the ability to self-education and continuous improvement of their skills.
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Рябова Н. Интернет-обзор бизнес-образования в Беларуси // Адукатар. №1 (13), 2008. – С.25-26. Access mode:
http
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Лабода С. К вопросу о развитии профессиональных компетентностей тренера// Адукатар. №1 (13), 2008. С.10-
13. Access mode: http://adukatar.net/?page_id=387://adukatar.net/?page_id=387
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