The 2025 admissions campaign for vocational and technical schools runs through Aug. 23. The plan is to enroll 28,000 applicants.
On Aug. 3, CTV’s program “Big City” discussed admission conditions for applicants with disabilities. Georgy Kozel, director of the Minsk State College of Digital Technologies, said that Belarusian legislation stands out for its inclusivity:
"As a lawyer, I must say that our national legislation is a source of national pride. Indeed, no other country in the world has laws like ours when it comes to people with special needs and disabilities. Especially in the area of vocational education."
Since 2023, Belarus has had a law “On the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Their Social Integration.” It bans discrimination based on disability, guarantees the right to education and employment, and requires institutions to ensure equal access to facilities and services — both physical and informational.
But this law is not a unique Belarusian creation; it is an adaptation of international standards set out in the 2006 UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. As of August 2025, 193 countries have ratified it. Belarus did so only 10 years after its adoption, in November 2016, becoming the 169th country to recognize the document.
The WTF team looked into how the law is being implemented in practice. In 2023, Lyudmila Borisenko, first deputy chair of the Minsk City Executive Committee’s education department, said that only six of the city’s 35 colleges admit applicants with disabilities.
According to the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, just 22% of facilities nationwide can be considered accessible for people with disabilities. By 2030, the goal is to raise that figure to 30%.
For comparison, Singapore’s Ministry of Social and Family Development reported in 2024 that about 80% of buildings and nearly 100% of public spaces are accessible to people with disabilities.
