LocationsNew technologies are reshaping vocational education in Belarus - and redefining what it means to be ready for work.
From Degree to Real-World Skills
June 27, 2025
Photo: UNDP Belarus
In the early 2000s, a vocational teacher explaining how to operate a lathe could hardly have imagined that, just two decades on, a virtual twin would be running the tests while robots learned new tasks on their own.
Back then, the diploma marked the destination. Today, it’s just the beginning.
Skills over certificates
The rise of digital technologies is upending the traditional pathways into work. Across the world young people are being trained for jobs that didn’t exist ten years ago. Curriculum development is struggling to keep pace with the shifting needs of employers.
The old model — study once, then work — no longer cuts it. In a world where robots write code, neural networks generate video, and artificial intelligence helps diagnose disease, success belongs to those who are willing to keep learning and adapt quickly.
Photo: UNDP Belarus
Rebooting vocational education
Belarus’ vocational education system is undergoing a major transformation to keep pace with the demands of the 21st-century economy. In 2023, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in partnership with the Ministry of Education and the Republican Institute for Vocational Education, launched a project to make vocational education more responsive to labour market needs by investing in new competencies and skills.
As a starting point, it focuses on three strategically important sectors — mechanical engineering, agriculture, and construction, which together employ around 800,000 people, nearly one in five workers in Belarus.
Future-Proofing the Workforce
Effective vocational training must begin with a clear understanding of how the world of work is changing. What technologies are disrupting key industries? What kinds of jobs will be needed tomorrow?
To answer those questions, the UNDP conducted a major study of Belarus’ labour market in early 2024. Using the Rapid Foresight method — a tool designed for fast, participatory trend analysis — it ran three intensive two-day sessions for each of the target sectors. Crucially, these brought employers and educators into the same room.
Photo: UNDP Belarus
The findings were telling. Experts identified 15 emerging professions and more than 100 essential skills, with around 80% involving digital literacy.
In agriculture, there’s growing demand for agro-cybernetic specialists to automate systems, and digital data analysts to make sense of complex information streams.
In mechanical engineering, polymechanics able to work with adaptive technologies and create prototypes are in short supply, as are neural network dispatchers who can use AI to manage robots and optimise workflows.
Meanwhile, construction firms are looking for BIM (Building Information Modelling) coordinators to lead on digital project design, and energy efficiency technicians to improve sustainability at every stage of a building’s life cycle.
But the research uncovered deeper currents, too.
Photo: UNDP Belarus
More Than Just Tech
Belarus’ workforce is shrinking. More people are retiring than entering the labour market. And while digital skills are key, they're not the whole story.
Retraining and reskilling are increasingly urgent, especially as cognitive labour becomes more dominant. But being digitally literate is not enough. Critical thinking, data analysis, teamwork, and sound decision-making are fast becoming essential attributes. Those who adapt quickly will not just survive – they’ll thrive.
Education That Evolves
That means vocational students need more than technical know-how. They need the flexibility to evolve with their industries and the confidence to navigate continuous technological change.
But there’s a catch: many educational institutions are not evolving fast enough. Universities and colleges struggle to keep up with the breakneck pace of change in industry.
A closer partnership between business and education may be the answer. Employers must stop waiting at the finish line and start shaping the race: helping to update course content, co-develop training spaces, share real-world expertise, and train teachers in modern production methods.
A System That Listens
To stay relevant, Belarus' vocational education system needs to stay alert — to listen closely to the signals of a fast-changing economy. That means remaining agile, embracing innovation, and staying in constant dialogue with industry.
Because the jobs of tomorrow will demand more than knowledge. They’ll demand curiosity, creativity, and the courage to learn all over again.
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