The Grand Duchy of Lithuania Scholarship grantor VU ready to accept Belarusian students hit by new repressions

After the Vilnius University (VU) established its The Grand Duchy of Lithuania Scholarship in late summer, nearly half a thousand young Belarusians expressed their interest in this opportunity.

Out of the nearly a hundred and fifty Belarusians who are students at the VU, some 90 were accepted urgently in response to the continued political upheavals in Belarus and the tightening sanctions of the regime.

A matter of great interest

As Belarusians who seek to enroll in the VU have to satisfy a set of academic requirements, out of the fifty hundred or so who showed their interest, the VU and the Ministry of Education, Science, and Sports of the Republic of Lithuania selected 72 persons who were given a spot to study under the bachelor curriculum, and 56 persons signed contracts with the VU. Another 34 individuals started studies under stage two - master’s curriculum.

‘The ideal behind the The Grand Duchy of Lithuania Scholarship launched by the VU, which has had the support of the leader of the Belarusian opposition, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, is to lend help to those who currently need our support. It was our way to rapidly respond to the situation in the neighbouring state, aiming to give students who had been hit by the regime and were under the threat of expulsion from the universities to study and to continue their studies.

Lithuania and Belarus are closely connected through culture and their shared GDL history, and it is a connection that is important to the identity of the university as such, one that we aim to maintain. That is why I am excited by the high degree of activity on the part of Belarusian students and their interest in the possibility to study at the VU: regimes that are trying to suppress democratic processes with repressions should not set up roadblocks on the legitimate way to learning,’ the VU’s rector Prof. Rimvydas Petrauskas has said.

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania Scholarship allows Belarusians who have enrolled in the VU to study for free: they are except from tuition fee for the entire duration of their time at the university. Plus, the most gifted bachelor and master students are given additional financial incentives: monthly scholarships in the amount of EUR 200. They have been granted to students who have suffered from repressions and been expelled from universities as well.

The VU Faculty of Philology offers Belarusian students who have no English language skills or doubt their skill level a special English course in the Russian language, which the students can attend for free: the course will be funded by the VU.

Business structures have also made a contribution to the fund established by the VU for the purposes of funding studies; some of the funding will be provided by the state.

VU ready to accept more students

In the words of Artūras Šaltis, the current numbers of enrolling Belarusians and their interest in the possibility to study at the VU is a clear signal that this opportunity is relevant for an increasing portion of Belarusian students already out of their freshman year, who have been expelled by the regime.

‘Responding to this demand, the VU continues to organise acceptance of senior students who have been affected by the regime. We are working with the Belarusian opposition and are getting applications for enrollment into different faculties from year two and upwards.

The VU continues its mission, we seek to provide as many possibilities as we can for university-grade education to be available to everyone,’ Mr Šaltis says.

VU has become a safe haven for Belarusians

A number of students have already taken advantage of this possibility. One of them is Herman Saikouski, who had been a paid history student at the Polotsk State University prior to his enrollment in the VU. In February 2019, the university’s administration made him take academic leave against his will.

‘In May 2019, I was away in Poland, but was thinking about getting back to the university and graduate after my academic leave was over. However, I was told, you could say I was made sign an application for my removal from the students’ roll. At the same time, I was filed a lawsuit over the payment of my tuition debt.

Moreover, someone hacked by social medial account and that is how they found out I was in Poland. Right now, my debt has been fully repaid but I still do not know if the case has been closed in court, because no documents were released to me,’ says Saikouski, now a student at the VU Faculty of Philology, about the persecution by the Belarusian regime.