The State Duma Commission to Investigate Interference by Foreign States in Russia’s Internal Affairs has asked the Prosecutor General’s Office to take action against “foreign agents” who have developed manuals “aimed at discrediting the project” Conversations about the Important. “This was stated by the chairman of this commission, Vasily Piskarev.
According to him, the commission “fixed the distribution of destructive educational materials for schoolchildren.” “By September 1, foreign agents developed manuals for students and teachers aimed at discrediting the project “Conversations about the Important,” he wrote.
Thus, according to Piskarev, they are trying to instill in children in Russia “false ideas” about patriotism and love for the motherland, as well as “introduce distorted facts of the country’s history into the minds of the children” and cause them “a negative attitude towards the new history textbooks that are now go to school.”
“Talk about the important” is a patriotic lesson that the Russian Ministry of Education introduced in schools in the 2022/23 academic year. The decree of the department says that the lessons are held in order “to form in schoolchildren love for the Motherland, pride in their country, patriotism.” The lessons were introduced months after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
From February 20, as reported, Channel One began to show a television version of the lessons on a weekly basis – the program “Conversations about the Important”. In February of this year, the Ministry of Education announced plans to conduct “Conversations about the Important” classes not only for schoolchildren, but also for their parents.
Denunciations began to be written against teachers who disagreed with this policy, on the basis of which cases were brought against teachers about military “fakes” and “discredit” of the Russian army. In July of this year, the Novosibirsk private college “Novokolledzh”, the administration of which refused to conduct “Conversations about the Important”, was fined 50 thousand rubles after an inspection by the prosecutor’s office. Its founder is Sergei Chernyshov, recognized in Russia as a “foreign agent”. He previously had to leave all administrative positions in the educational institution due to the status of a “foreign agent” and pressure from the authorities.
“Stand up to defend the Motherland.” How Russian schoolchildren are taught patriotism once a week in “Conversations about the Important”:
