Starting September 1, 2023, Russian schoolchildren will be taught according to a unified state educational program and identical textbooks that are mandatory for all schools. Russians are losing the right to choose a curriculum for their children, which was provided for by the Law on Education
The State deprives Russian schools of the right to choose educational programs
Starting September 1, 2023, Russian schoolchildren will be taught according to a unified state educational program and identical textbooks that are mandatory for all schools. Russians are losing the right to choose a curriculum for their children, which was provided for by the Law on Education
The Ministry of Education will prepare a mandatory educational program and textbooks for history, geography, social studies, Russian language, and literature that will be the same for all Russian schools. The state will control the content of textbooks when forming author teams. Schools are promised a five-year transitional period to update their libraries. Officials assure that the reform will allow schools to reduce textbook costs and improve the quality of education.
This is far from the only step the Russian government took to strengthen control over education, intended to raise a generation of loyal patriots.
It is worth noting that since September 5, 2022, Russian schools have been conducting special lessons, “Important Conversations,” on Mondays, essentially propaganda work aimed at shaping the necessary attitudes for the state. Schoolchildren are taught to have a respectful attitude toward duty and service to the Fatherland.
According to the state’s objectives, work is underway to shape the “correct” perception of Russia’s war in Ukraine among the younger generation. For example, in some regions of Russia, schools ceremoniously unveiled memorial plaques to residents who died in the war with Ukraine and held meetings with combatants, as was done in Soviet schools with veterans of the Great Patriotic War 1940-1945.
While declaring the goal of improving the quality of education, the Russian government is increasing centralization and control over teachers and students. Teachers in Russia are a particular category of people who depend on the State. Most educational institutions in Russia are state-owned, and teachers are paid from the country’s budget. Moreover, they are members of various-level electoral commissions whose work ensures the desired political outcomes in elections for the regime. Working in electoral commissions is an irregular but significant addition to teachers’ salaries, which averaged 45,787 rubles ($572) in Russia in 2022.
