{"id":138021,"date":"2025-05-14T12:47:33","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T09:47:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138021\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"bielstat-students-studying-in-belarusian-down-34-percent-since-2014","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138021\/","title":{"rendered":"Bie\u0142stat: students studying in Belarusian down 34 percent since 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

May 14, Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong> The number of secondary school students receiving instruction in Belarusian has plunged by 34.4 percent over the past decade to 88,885 and continues to decline, according to Pozirk’s<\/em> analysis of the National Statistics Committee’s (Bie\u0142stat) data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Viciebsk region posted the sharpest decline of almost 60 percent, from 13,112 to 5,366 students. The share of students enrolled in schools offering instruction in Belarusian also fell in all other regions, with declines ranging from 24 to 43 percent. The city of Minsk was the only exception, posting an 11-percent growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By contrast, enrolment in schools with instruction in Russian rose nationwide by 22.6 percent to 991,274.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minsk and the Minsk region led the growth with 33 and 34 percent respectively, followed by the Hrodna region with some 23 percent. None of the regions posted declines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the crackdown on 2020 postelection protests in Belarus, reprisals targeted science and education, among other fields, while Russification and indoctrination practices picked up pace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authorities shut down many NGOs and initiatives that that promoted Belarusian culture, including the Union of Belarusian Writers, Belarusian PEN, the Franci\u0161ak Skaryna Belarusian Language Society along with several independent publishers that specialized in modern Belarusian literature and translations into Belarusian<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2019 census showed that the number of people who consider Belarusian their native language dropped from 85.6 percent in 1999 to 61.2 percent in 2019 during Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also read: Vilnius\u2019 envoy: no Lithuanian schools in Belarus, dozens of ethnic Lithuanians behind bars<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

May 14, Pozirk. The number of secondary school students receiving instruction in Belarusian has plunged by 34.4 percent over the past decade to 88,885 and continues to decline, according to Pozirk’s analysis of the National Statistics Committee’s (Bie\u0142stat) data. The Viciebsk region posted the sharpest decline of almost 60 percent, from 13,112 to 5,366 students. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":55340,"template":"","rubric":[13],"class_list":["post-138021","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-society"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBie\u0142stat: students studying in Belarusian down 34 percent since 2014 | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"May 14, Pozirk. The number of secondary school students receiving instruction in Belarusian has plunged by 34.4 percent over the past decade to 88,885 and\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138021\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bie\u0142stat: students studying in Belarusian down 34 percent since 2014 | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"May 14, Pozirk. The number of secondary school students receiving instruction in Belarusian has plunged by 34.4 percent over the past decade to 88,885 and\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138021\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/mova-adukar.com-744-13.12.2023.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"744\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"419\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Pozirk_online\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138021\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138021\/\"},\"headline\":\"Bie\u0142stat: students studying in Belarusian down 34 percent since 2014\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-14T09:47:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138021\/\"},\"wordCount\":244,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138021\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/mova-adukar.com-744-13.12.2023.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138021\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138021\/\",\"name\":\"Bie\u0142stat: students studying in Belarusian down 34 percent since 2014 | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138021\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138021\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/mova-adukar.com-744-13.12.2023.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-14T09:47:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00\",\"description\":\"May 14, Pozirk. The number of secondary school students receiving instruction in Belarusian has plunged by 34.4 percent over the past decade to 88,885 and\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138021\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138021\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138021\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/mova-adukar.com-744-13.12.2023.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/mova-adukar.com-744-13.12.2023.jpg\",\"width\":744,\"height\":419},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138021\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Bie\u0142stat: students studying in Belarusian down 34 percent since 2014\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Pozirk\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Pozirk\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Pozirk\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/Pozirk_online\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Bie\u0142stat: students studying in Belarusian down 34 percent since 2014 | Pozirk","description":"May 14, Pozirk. The number of secondary school students receiving instruction in Belarusian has plunged by 34.4 percent over the past decade to 88,885 and","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138021\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Bie\u0142stat: students studying in Belarusian down 34 percent since 2014 | Pozirk","og_description":"May 14, Pozirk. The number of secondary school students receiving instruction in Belarusian has plunged by 34.4 percent over the past decade to 88,885 and","og_url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138021\/","og_site_name":"Pozirk","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/","article_modified_time":"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":744,"height":419,"url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/mova-adukar.com-744-13.12.2023.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@Pozirk_online","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138021\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138021\/"},"headline":"Bie\u0142stat: students studying in Belarusian down 34 percent since 2014","datePublished":"2025-05-14T09:47:33+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138021\/"},"wordCount":244,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138021\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/mova-adukar.com-744-13.12.2023.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138021\/","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138021\/","name":"Bie\u0142stat: students studying in Belarusian down 34 percent since 2014 | Pozirk","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138021\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138021\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/mova-adukar.com-744-13.12.2023.jpg","datePublished":"2025-05-14T09:47:33+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00","description":"May 14, Pozirk. The number of secondary school students receiving instruction in Belarusian has plunged by 34.4 percent over the past decade to 88,885 and","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138021\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138021\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138021\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/mova-adukar.com-744-13.12.2023.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/mova-adukar.com-744-13.12.2023.jpg","width":744,"height":419},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138021\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Bie\u0142stat: students studying in Belarusian down 34 percent since 2014"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/","name":"Pozirk","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization","name":"Pozirk","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Pozirk"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/","https:\/\/x.com\/Pozirk_online"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/138021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/articles"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"rubric","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rubric?post=138021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}