The true essence of management science

It’s not easy to gain a place at the Academy, the selection process is strict, with the average pass grade being one of the highest in the country. Those who have just finished school account for only 10 percent, while the remainder are mature students, most of whom are receiving a second higher education award. There are also those who regularly attend career enhancement training. “Sometimes one enters a classroom and sees ministers, directors of enterprises and deputies,” the Academy Rector, Marat Zhilinsky, tells us. Each year, the heads of Belarusian diplomatic missions in foreign countries also undertake internships at the Academy.

Remarkably, Marat Zhilinsky became rector when he was still a student of the Academy… “I was a deputy of the House of Representatives and studying at the Academy of Public Administration,” he recollects. “When I became head I still had six months left to study. There was speculation as to whether I would attend my graduation ceremony, but I had to award the diplomas to my fellow students in the Palace of the Republic.”

Creating a portrait of the contemporary Belarusian leader, the Rector notes, “I think that a true executive should feel confidence in what they do. If there’s no such confidence, then their plans are doomed to fail. Our graduates should be ready to serve their country. We don’t need businessmen who are only interesting in going abroad as soon as they have gained their diplomas.”

Sanaka Samarasinha, the UN Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative to Belarus, noted that Belarusians boast colossal managerial experience, since the statutes of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania are true monuments of the history of law. Moreover, they were used to write the Constitution of France, so the Belarusians are the heirs of a great past. Marat Zhilinsky visits many countries and has an opportunity to compare various systems of management. He admits that the ideal system doesn’t exist. One method is used in Asia while Europe has another and further differences can be seen in North American management styles. Of course, experience is vital, so students and teachers often follow internships in the CIS states, Germany, France, Spain and the USA. Meanwhile, the Academy of Public Administration has a scientific research institute which has the task of studying various managerial systems.

Foreign specialists often arrive in Minsk to lecture. Lessons by the Rector of the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Prof. Yevgeny Bazhanov, are always interesting. Moreover, South Korean and Chinese teachers regularly conduct courses. However prestigious the study at the Academy of Public Administration is, it’s necessary to prepare our students practically from school. In October, for example, the winners of subject Olympiads from the Slonim District arrived. They attended lectures for a week and the teacher conducted master classes and business games with them. The Academy is shortly expecting a group of schoolchildren from Vitebsk.

There are also good prospects for studying for a Master’s degree programme at the Academy. Young people write their theses and are involved in scientific activity.

To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the establishment, a capsule has been laid in the Academy’s hall with a message to future students and teachers; it will be revealed in 25 years’ time, by 2041. A postal envelope was also created, now running into several thousands of copies, (depicting the Academy of Public of Administration) which will be distributed across the country.

Rector Marat Zhilinsky is in no doubt that the state management system has proven its worth, “Under difficult contemporary political and economic conditions, the Academy of Public Administration is working to provide the efficient and high quality specialists that our country needs.”