Against the backdrop of the ongoing war against Ukraine, a new subject “How to Serve the Motherland” will be introduced into the compulsory curriculum of Russian schools, which is not devoid of propaganda. What will be studied there?
The authorities in Russia continue to actively integrate military topics into school education. Starting in September, the subject “In the Service of the Motherland” will be included in the compulsory curriculum, announced Russian Education Minister Sergei Kravtsov.
Within the framework of this program, which contains propaganda, children will be able to choose a project to implement from a list of tasks proposed by non-profit organizations, businesses or state institutions. The program has been in pilot form since 2024. It is run by the “Movement of the First&rdash; an organization designed as an analogue of the Soviet Pioneer Movement.
The program was initiated by President Vladimir Putin, who headed the Supervisory Board. For four years, the organization has been increasingly promoting educational programs and involving Russian children in militarized activities. The “Movement of the First“ is under sanctions by the European Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
What projects are offered to students?
The new subject will be mandatory in grades 10 and 11. The principle of operation is described on the program's website. First, non-governmental organizations, government institutions, or business representatives offer their projects in the system, which, after final selection and inclusion in a catalog, can be chosen by educational institutions for their students. There will be approximately one lesson per week for their implementation.
The project website states that 590 higher education institutions, 1,616 schools and almost 600,000 students in 30 regions of Russia are participating in the program. By mid-February, the program already included about 140 projects from which students could choose. Most of them do not seem politicized: opening an ecological stand, staging a play, presentations on local history or, for example, working in an animal shelter.
“If this program had come out 10 years ago, I would have been the first to write how great and wonderful it was. In many countries, such a program is mandatory and the notebook must necessarily contain grades for social work, charity, etc. In principle, everything is fine, but in this case the problem is in the details“, Dima Zitser tells DW – teacher, founder of the St. Petersburg school of informal education "Apelsin".
To search for projects, students can use various keywords: culture, urbanism, social projects, but also "SVO" ("special military operation" - this is how the Russian authorities call the aggression against Ukraine). "No one doubts that the emphasis will be on the war, such as weaving camouflage nets, etc.," says Zitser.
"Flowerbeds of Memory" and a military channel in messenger
Of the 140 projects already uploaded to the site, only 10 are directly related to the war in Ukraine. "Virtually every school has its former graduates who died in the line of duty in the special military operation," says the description of the project of a school in the Saratov region. The students are invited to create a "museum of the SVO". In a neighboring city, the children will make a "Flowerbed of Memory" dedicated to the participants in the war in Ukraine. The students will create a similar memorial as part of another project - in Bashkortostan.
In Buryatia, students will have to create and maintain a channel in the Max messenger dedicated to the soldiers who participated in the invasion of Ukraine. And in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug, the organization "The Path to the Elite" emphasizes the following in the description of the patriotic education project: “Parents who grew up during the collapse of the Soviet Union sought to raise their children free and without the influence of propaganda, but because of this, an ideology that destroys our way of life and threatens the existence of our country can now be imposed on them too easily“.
For the full implementation of the selected project, children can receive “volunteer activity points“, which in theory can be exchanged for points for the matriculation exams. However, this is not adopted by all schools, and those that will benefit will be able to add a maximum of 10 points.
“SVE - a key direction of the course“
“In the service of the Motherland“ largely repeats the previously introduced “Conversations about the important“ – extracurricular activities, which are mandatory for attendance. Over time, children are increasingly actively involved in events related to the war against Ukraine, which teachers then report on on social networks. Similar publications can now be found for the new subject at school.
So far, only one in ten of the proposed projects relates to the war in Ukraine, but their number will probably increase over time. On the main page of the portal, the creation of a “mini-kitchen for SVO fighters“ and “mobile field dryer“ are noted as the best projects for “fighters at the front“, as well as the publication of “notebook with biographies of SVO heroes“.
Is school autonomy dead?
Member of the Federation Council Committee on Science, Education and Culture Igor Murog has already stated that “the issue of supporting SVO participants will be one of the key directions within the course“. “The program is oriented to the current needs of society, and the creation of patriotic projects and assistance to the families of servicemen have already been successfully tested in pilot regions“, said the deputy.
In this regard, educator Dima Zitser spoke about “murder of school autonomy“ in Russia.