Every Belarusian citizen has a guaranteed right to education. The national multistage education system ensures that Belarusians can exercise this right in full.

Pre-school education is provided through pre-school institutions which differ in type and specialization: day nursery, day nursery-kindergarten, kindergarten, kindergarten-school. These institutions are for children under six years. All in all, there are 4,109 pre-school institutions in Belarus employing 50,400 teachers.

The next stage in the national education system is general secondary education provided in general secondary schools, gymnasiums and lyceums. The education begins at a minimum age of six.

Contemporary general secondary education includes several stages: primary school (years 1–4), basic school (years 5–9) and complete secondary education (years 10–11).

General secondary education can also be received in vocational training and secondary specialized education institutions, after finishing a basic school.

There is an effective vocational training system in Belarus, which includes vocational schools, vocational lyceums and vocational colleges. These institutions provide vocational training and general secondary education, and ensure that students acquire professional skills, also known as qualifications in Belarus, in a range of professions. After their academic courses are over, students are issued vocational education and training diplomas.

The institutions providing secondary specialized education are technical schools, colleges, schools-colleges of arts, gymnasiums-colleges of arts, professional technical colleges, linguistic gymnasiums-colleges and higher colleges. A person is entitled to secondary specialized education after the completion of basic education, general secondary education and/or vocational training courses.

This type of education is available on the full-time, remote and evening bases and takes from 2 to 4 years.

The system of higher education comprises 43 state-owned institutions: 31 universities, six academies, two institutes, four higher colleges and ten rivately-owned institutions.

The Belarusian State University (BSU) and the Belarusian National Technical University (BNTU) are the leading institutions of higher education in the national education system; nine institutions are the leading establishments in their respective sectors. The National Higher School trains specialists in 350 professions and in more than 1,000 specializations.

Advanced academic training is available through post-graduate and doctoral courses run at institutions of higher learning and research institutions of the Ministry of Education (www.minedu.unibel.by).

There is a network of institutions in Belarus providing refresher courses and advanced training. Belarusian education is popular among foreign students. Fifty-one institutions provide tuition-fee education services to foreign citizens. The education is given in Belarusian and Russian. Its cost is set by the education institutions themselves with respect to each profession in accordance with international practice in the field.