IWPR - February 12th, 2004

Students and western diplomats voice concern after the education ministry asks the popular rector of Belarus’ largest private university to stand down.

By Nadezhda Vasilevskaya in Minsk

A government call for the rector of the European Humanities University, EHU, to resign could jeopardise western funding of Belarus’ largest private university and might even result in its closure.

Education minister Alexander Radkov suggested that Anatoly Mikhailov should quit his post as rector of the EHU at a meeting between the two men on January 21.

Radkov made no specific complaints about Mikhailov’s work, but he had earlier criticised the high number of guest lecturers brought in from western Europe and the United States to teach at the EHU.

Although Mikhailov has refused to resign – and neither the education minister nor even President Alexander Lukashenko has the authority to sack the rector of a private university – such government interference could have grave consequences for the EHU.

Funding from foreign donors accounts for about 40 per cent of the university’s budget – and this funding could be in jeopardy if Mikhailov is replaced, according to a press release issued on behalf of the institution.

Deputy rector Vladimir Dunaev told IWPR that even if the authorities fail to have Mikhailov removed, the university faces a tough road ahead and could be forced to shut down.

Both Mikhailov and the institution he runs are highly respected in the academic world. The rector has won numerous awards and the EHU is the only university in the Commonwealth of Independent States to have joined the international consortium Campus Europae.

Stanislav Shushkevich, a former speaker of parliament who is now part of the opposition, told IWPR that the university is not valued just for its high academic standards, “There is freedom of thought among its teachers and students. This is precisely what our regime dislikes. The people in charge of culture and education in our country are ignoramuses and boors, and the atmosphere at the EHU conflicts with their very nature.”

Students and diplomats alike have reacted angrily to what they see as government interference in the private education sector. In the two days following the meeting between Mikhailov and Radkov, the ambassadors of eleven western countries visited the education ministry to protest against the pressure being put on the rector.

Students at the EHU have just finished their winter term, and lecturer Raisa Krivaltsevich told IWPR that the fate of the university weighed heavily on their minds, “They are worried whether they will be able to complete their education.

“Everyone is convinced that if the rector is replaced, they will no longer get the high standards of academic training they expected when they came here.”

One student, who gave his name only as Vladimir, told IWPR, “We cannot hold any open protests as long as nothing is known – the ministry has not yet taken any concrete steps. But we would like our rector to know that we support him. We are all for him – we don’t want anyone else here.”

Many students would struggle to complete their education if the university was forced to close, as it has many unique courses. It is the only place in Belarus that runs a secular course in theology and modern religious studies. Departments such as the French-Belarusian Department of Political and Administrative Sciences and the Information Resource Centre for Problems of European Integration are also unique to the EHU.

This is not the first time the Belarusian government has interfered in the private education sector. Last year the authorities shut down a private lyceum after its teachers and students resisted a forced change in the organisation’s administration.

However, Shushkevich told IWPR that there are important differences between the two cases. The government closed down the lyceum because it inspired a kind of patriotism they found distasteful, he said, whereas the EHU is known for steering clear of Belarusian politics and limiting itself to academia.

Nadezhda Vasilevskaya is the pseudonym of a reporter in Minsk.