Russian schools ramp up military training in updated curriculum

Changes have been introduced into the Russian education system. Military training lessons have been included in the curriculum, and lessons in "The Basics of Life Safety" have been replaced with lessons in "The Basics of Safety and Homeland Defence."

As reported by the Tass agency, this change will be reflected in the school year beginning in 2024, which encompasses 18.5 million students. From the fifth grade, students will participate in lessons that include military training, crisis management, cybersecurity, and activities aimed at protecting civilians.

Classes for grades 8–11 students will include tactical, firefighting, engineering, medical, and technical training. The youth will gain knowledge about firearm construction, army rules, how to handle an AKM rifle, a hand grenade, and shelter building. Russian Minister of Education Sergey Kravtsov told the portal "Argumenty and Fakty" that some classes will take place in the Russian army's training centres, "Avangard."

The educational portal Repit notes that the goal of the lessons "is to instil patriotism, teach students first aid skills, and teach them quick navigation in emergency situations." After finishing school, students will be able to "join the ranks of homeland defenders, having already basic knowledge that will help them adapt more quickly to military service."

A new addition to the curriculum is classes on designing and using unmanned aerial vehicles. The official newspaper of the Russian Duma, "Parlamentskaya Gazeta," reported in May 2024 that over 2,500 teachers have already undergone training in this regard.

The newspaper "Novye Izvestia" reported that drone lessons will be conducted in over 500 schools and 30 higher education institutions, and the trained teachers, working with children, will be able to ensure "the integration of unmanned air systems with general and secondary vocational education programmes (…) and directing (children - editor's note) to further education in the field of their interest".

The BBC reported that curriculum changes in Russian schools have been occurring since the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022. There has been a tradition of raising the Russian flag, meetings with veterans of the "special operation", as the war in Ukraine is called in Russia, and the addition of ideological class hours "Talks on Important Matters".