As the war in Ukraine continues, the Russian Government has already exiled or jailed protesters who spoke against Russia. Now, they’ve taken it another step further by deciding to alter the class courses in schools across the nation.
Beginning in first grade, students in Russia are now expected to watch war movies and go on virtual tours of Crimea in class. They will be taught subjects like “the geopolitical situation” and “traditional values”, as well as the “Rebirth of Russia under President Vladimir Putin”. Textbooks have also been edited to better fit the perspective of Putin.
In a law signed by President Putin, all Russian students will be encouraged to join the “Pioneers”, which is a patriotic youth group led by the president.
Irina, a ninth grader, said that their computer class was replaced by a state television report of the Ukrainians surrendering to Russia, telling the students that only official Russian resources could be trusted.
She also noticed that her friends began listening and following the information presented on screen.
“They suddenly started repeating everything after the television,” Irina said in a phone interview “They suddenly started saying that this is all deserved, that this had to happen. They couldn’t even attempt to explain this to me.”
Irina and her family moved to Poland this year.
Teachers have also noticed that the behavior of the students have changed. Before, they had arguments about the war and whether it was right to invade Ukraine. But now, students are more likely to draw symbols in support of Russia and even pretending to be Russian soldiers at recess.
“The propaganda did its job here,” said Irina Milyutina, an English teacher who was jailed for speaking out against the war.
Besides this, Russia has also made other moves on education.
In Latvia, Russia has promised teachers a large sum of money to go and teach “corrected” education to the Russian students.
Although the pay is big, many teachers don’t want to do so because of the potential dangers. However, there was a “brigade” of teachers that arrived in Ukraine.
“Unfortunately, there will be teachers who will go to Ukraine to earn that cursed money,” said Larisa, a teacher in St. Petersburg. “I don’t know how they will look into the mirror.”
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/16/world/europe/russia-putin-schools-propaganda-indoctrination.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/18/russia-teachers-ukraine-rewrite-history/
Beginning in first grade, students in Russia are now expected to watch war movies and go on virtual tours of Crimea in class. They will be taught subjects like “the geopolitical situation” and “traditional values”, as well as the “Rebirth of Russia under President Vladimir Putin”. Textbooks have also been edited to better fit the perspective of Putin.
In a law signed by President Putin, all Russian students will be encouraged to join the “Pioneers”, which is a patriotic youth group led by the president.
Irina, a ninth grader, said that their computer class was replaced by a state television report of the Ukrainians surrendering to Russia, telling the students that only official Russian resources could be trusted.
She also noticed that her friends began listening and following the information presented on screen.
“They suddenly started repeating everything after the television,” Irina said in a phone interview “They suddenly started saying that this is all deserved, that this had to happen. They couldn’t even attempt to explain this to me.”
Irina and her family moved to Poland this year.
Teachers have also noticed that the behavior of the students have changed. Before, they had arguments about the war and whether it was right to invade Ukraine. But now, students are more likely to draw symbols in support of Russia and even pretending to be Russian soldiers at recess.
“The propaganda did its job here,” said Irina Milyutina, an English teacher who was jailed for speaking out against the war.
Besides this, Russia has also made other moves on education.
In Latvia, Russia has promised teachers a large sum of money to go and teach “corrected” education to the Russian students.
Although the pay is big, many teachers don’t want to do so because of the potential dangers. However, there was a “brigade” of teachers that arrived in Ukraine.
“Unfortunately, there will be teachers who will go to Ukraine to earn that cursed money,” said Larisa, a teacher in St. Petersburg. “I don’t know how they will look into the mirror.”
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/16/world/europe/russia-putin-schools-propaganda-indoctrination.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/18/russia-teachers-ukraine-rewrite-history/
