Korma, Belarus

Belarus
Belarus
Primary Contact: 
Elena Leshenok
City: 
Korma, Belarus
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Korma

Korma district is located in the north-eastern part of Gomel region of the Republic of Belarus.

Korma district was formed in 1924, its area is 950 km2. The district includes the town of Korma and eight country councils.

The area of ​​agricultural land is 40.8 thousand ha, including arable land –31.9 thousand ha. Six rivers flow through the district, 12 artificial reservoirs have been created, and there are a lot of natural lakes in the floodplain of the Sozh River. Forests occupy 37% of the territory.

Korma district is rich in natural resources such as chalk, building sand, clay. Sod-podzolic, loamy and loamy sand lands prevail.

Currently, 13.6 thousand people live in the district, including 7.6 thousand people living in the town, and 6.0 thousand people live in the countryside. The average age of the population in the district is 39.8 years old, including the average age of men 36.2 years old, women 43.2 years old. More than 5 thousand people are employed in the economic field of the district.

In terms of wages, Korma district is in last place among the districts of Gomel region.

The economic potential of the district is represented by 208 business entities, which include enterprises of various forms of ownership, including 1 large enterprise, 8 medium-sized organizations, 6 small enterprises, 42 micro-organizations and 151 individual entrepreneurs. The enterprises and individual entrepreneurs carry out their activities in various sectors of the economy: agricultural production, trade and consumer services, transportation services. The least developed sphere is the field of industrial production.

The agro-industrial complex of the district is represented by 7 agricultural enterprises. On the territory of Korma there is an industrial enterprise for processing of flax and flax fiber and a branch office of the poultry farm.

The main direction of agricultural activity is the cultivation of flax and its processing at the local flax mill, where flax fiber is produced as the final product, which is sent for further production outside the district. It also produces flax briquettes from waste for use as fuel. It should be said about the uniqueness of these briquettes: the heat transfer from their combustion is much higher than that of coal.

The district in its level and specificity refers to the agricultural districts.

Here are the main problems affecting the further development of the territory:

  • insufficient staffing of agricultural enterprises,
  • outflow of youth to more developed regions;
  • low salary.
  • insufficient staffing of enterprises with modern agricultural machinery and equipment, high physical and moral depreciation of existing equipment.

The development of the region was significantly affected by the Chernobyl accident. Korma district is among the most affected. 19 settlements ceased to exist. There was a large outflow of the population: 9600 people left the district (36% of the population). Due to the fact that the effect of pollution of the territory is gradually decreasing, there is a possibility of restoring lost positions, developing promising areas.

Formal and non-formal education

Formal education in Korma district is represented by 26 educational establishments:

  • 8 establishments of preschool education,
  • 14 schools,
  • the center of creativity of children and youth,
  • the center for developmental education and rehabilitation of children,
  • a children and youth sports school,
  • a socio-pedagogical center.

54% of our students in grades 10-11 are enrolled in vocational training (operator of electronic computers, vegetable grower, gardener, carpenter, and seamstress).

Cultural institutions are presented as follows:

  • the district center of culture and leisure, which includes 2 cultural and leisure centers,
  • 8 rural houses of culture,
  • the center of folklore,
  • the rural house of folk traditions,
  • 19 libraries,
  • district children's art school,
  • a car club,
  • the memorial museum of P.N. Lepeshinsky;

Social services to the population are provided by the Korma territorial center of social services for the population.

90% of the economically employable population of the district is unionized. Trade union organizations have an active position in their sphere. One of the spheres of the trade union organizations’ work is helping adults to get additional education

Non-formal education is also represented by the District Adult Education Center, which was created according to the model of German folk high schools as a part of the EU-UNDP project in 2018. Currently, this work is underway to establish this center into a steadily functioning system.

Educational events of the town

The first attempt on the way to the formation of an adult education system in the Korma district was the creation of the aforementioned regional center for additional adult education. The DVV International Representative Office in the Republic of Belarus provided significant assistance in forming a model of activity of this center. The model of the center for continuing adult education is built on the basis of the experience of German public universities. The rural model was chosen as the basis, where the adult education center is a methodological, organizational and unifying link, and educational sites are located in the district.

In accordance with our vision of the model, adults of various categories of the population can be trained at the center: unemployed, pensioners, people with disabilities, specialists from enterprises and organizations. Here you can increase your competencies in professional fields, learn new types of activities, gain competencies in personal development.

The following educational programmes were implemented as a pilot in the center’s activities:

  • “How to find your job” (with the unemployed and those wishing to change their profession);
  • “Computer from scratch” (for senior citizens);
  • “Territory of development” (for socially active population).

Currently, five educational sites operate on the basis of the center for continuing education of adults:

  • the memorial museum of P.N. Lepeshinsky;
  • a library;
  • the center for the creativity of children and youth;
  • a high-school-based security center;
  • the center of social services.

In 2020, it is planned to open 3 more sites.

The local authorities are interested in the development of additional adult education in the Korma district. They actively support activities towards the formation of a learning town. The residents of the town are also interested in this direction. According to the results of some surveys, 95% of respondents want to receive services in the field of additional adult education.

A local initiative group on additional adult education has been created and is actively volunteering in the town.

The strategy of a learning town has been developed for the town of Korma for 2020-2021.

Key events in the direction of a learning city

 

Key priority areas for future development

  1. Dissemination of the ideas of sustainable development in the field of education.
  2. Sustainable functioning of the center for continuing adult education.
  3. Improving the quality of life of the population based on the growth of the competitiveness of the economy, attracting investments through the development of human potential, including improving the level of well-being,  health, the comfort of the life of the population by providing inclusive and fair quality education and encouraging learning opportunities throughout life for everybody.

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