Two billion for “patriotism,” “Kind Games” instead of “Conversations About Important Things,” drone textbooks, recruitment into military psychology, teachers against pacifist letters, and a BAFTA award for a film on school militarization — this is how the week in Russian school education unfolded.
📌 The army takes patronage over schools
In Bashkortostan, authorities approved a patriotic education program for 2026–2030 with a budget of 2.1 billion rubles. By 2030, officials aim to involve at least 75% of teenagers in patriotic organizations and 100% of students in профиль activities and training camps. One of the key directions is expanding military units’ patronage over schools, colleges, and universities.
📌 “Conversations About Important Things” turned into “Kind Games”
The Ministry of Education has renamed the “Conversations About Important Things” course for kindergartens to “Kind Games,” without publicly highlighting the connection between the two. According to the Institute for Education Development, it is an adapted version of the school program for preschoolers. As part of a pilot, children were taught — through games — about Russians’ readiness to unite in defense of the Motherland.
📌 Official drone textbook
Russia has published its first state-approved textbook on drones for grades 10–11. Students will be taught manual piloting, programming, and assembly directly in class. The Higher School of Economics stated that the course will allow teenagers to “try on the role of an entire aviation system.”
📌 “Here’s an example of how not to write”
At a lyceum in Ufa, students were forced to rewrite letters to the front because they expressed the value of human life and wished soldiers to “return home alive.” The homeroom teacher said such wording did not meet “standards” and suggested that parents “have a serious conversation” with their children about the value of military duty.
📌 Film about school propaganda wins BAFTA
The film “Mr. Nobody Against Putin” received the BAFTA award for Best Documentary. Director Pavel Talankin filmed footage in his school in the town of Karabash for two years after the start of the war, later storing the material on seven hard drives and secretly taking it out of Russia.
