The kremlin Has Stepped Up Propaganda in Schools for the New School Year

The new school year in russian schools has brought seven new or updated propaganda initiatives – nearly three times as many as last year.

One of the main changes is a further reduction in social science. The subject will be removed from the 8th -form curriculum, and the hours freed up will be allocated to history. This means less time for law, economics, politics, and the workings of government institutions – knowledge that helps schoolchildren understand society and critically evaluate the government’s decisions.

Instead, 8th - and 9th -formers will study from standardized history textbooks prepared with the involvement of medinsky, putin’s propagandist. Those textbooks will place even greater emphasis on the confrontation with the West, “traditional values”, and war. In 9th form, the history curriculum will begin with lessons themed “russia – our sacred state”.

In forms 5–7, foreign language classes will be reduced from three lessons per week to two. At the same time, fifth-formers will study “spiritual and moral culture of russia” in the second semester. The course is intended to instill “traditional values” through the study of statesmen and military figures, first of all those who participated in the war against Ukraine.

The military component is also being strengthened. The course “Fundamentals of security and defense of the motherland” will be divided into two mandatory courses – life safety and basic military training –34 hours each. Schools are also introducing behavior marks and a new concept of history education designed to foster “patriotic” youth.

This is a continuation of the policy the kremlin has been implementing in schools since the start of the full-scale invasion. Since 2022, schools have introduced “Conversations about important things”, flag-raising ceremonies, the “movement of the first”, new history textbooks, military training, and principal’s advisors on educational work.

Last year, social science was already removed from forms 6 and 7. Now it is being cut by another year, freeing up time for “history”, military training, and state ideology.