Education in the shadow of war

The war between Russia and Ukraine, which has lasted for nearly 2.5 years, has affected every field of activity in both countries, disrupted economic and cultural relations, and turned two nations that considered themselves brothers at a societal level into implacable enemies. I do not know how many generations must pass to forget the wounds of this war if it ends soon. The recent banning of the Moscow-affiliated Ukrainian Orthodox Church on Ukrainian soil shows that the last spiritual bond between the two countries has also been severed.

This war has also contributed to the rewriting of history—specifically, the history textbooks from which Russian and Ukrainian students learn. Since the beginning of the war, there have been radical changes in the school curricula in both countries, and propaganda conducted through schools has reached maximum levels in both Ukraine and Russia.

For example, in 2022, Ukraine removed Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace" from its school curriculum. The works of Alexander Pushkin were also excluded. In the discipline of history, Ukrainian students are now taught that the Soviet Union was an "imperial-type state," the "Defense of Ukraine" discipline is being strengthened with a "patriotic-military" component, information is provided about the current war and its "heroes," and concepts of protection during conflict are taught in the "Fundamentals of Health" discipline.

The school curriculum in both countries undergoes changes every year. Starting this year, a new subject, "Family Science: Fundamentals of Family Life," has been introduced for students in grades 5-7 or 8-9 in Russian schools. The content of the course includes topics such as the reasons for starting a family and marriage, family values passed down from generation to generation, constructive interaction between children and siblings, respect for elders, domestic comfort, the importance of the family, holidays, and equality between spouses in the family. One of the biggest problems Russia faces is its constantly declining demographic index. It seems that through this course, an attempt is being made to correct the current situation, which has also been exacerbated by the war in Ukraine. In this discipline, 8th and 9th-grade students will be taught how to choose a life partner, the nature of competition between children of different ages and step-siblings in a family, and the advantages and disadvantages of a young family with children living with their parents. It is a discipline that has sparked fierce debate in Russia, as more and more young people prefer not to marry, to cohabit, and not to have children.

In another newly introduced course, students will be informed about measures to protect the population in emergencies or under the threat of war, taught how to use protective equipment, and familiarized with the design of small arms and the general provisions of military regulations. At the same time, 10th and 11th grades will include practical courses covering tactical, fire, engineering, medical, and military-technical training. Students planning to take the history exam are now required to know topics such as "The Resurrection of the Russian Federation as a World Power," "The Reunification of Crimea with Russia," and the "Special Military Operation in Ukraine."

Russia has launched an extraordinary propaganda campaign in its education system, starting from primary school through to university education, with the aim of educating the masses. Since 2022, students in the Media Department at the Higher School of Economics, one of Russia's leading universities, have been able to take the course "Propaganda: theory, history, methods, applications." Following the training, students are able to create their "own propaganda schemes and structures" and use propaganda elements in practice. Furthermore, throughout the program, students must understand the difference between misinformation, lies, and fake news. The history of Nazi and Soviet propaganda, which are considered the most powerful examples of propaganda, has been taken as a model.

Another reform launched by the Russian Ministry of Education as early as 2022 is the "Conversations about Important Things" course, which is taught to all students in grades 1-11. In this course, teachers were tasked with explaining the following slogans to students: "Love for the Motherland is not just the ability to admire its beauty, but also the willingness to stand up for the Motherland," "The happiness of the Motherland is more valuable than life," and "It is not scary to die for the Motherland."

Russian Minister of Education Sergei Kravtsov previously described schools in the country as "the most important front in the information and psychological war that Moscow is waging against the West." The minister's view is no different from what Lenin said nearly 100 years ago: "Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted!"

Both Ukrainian and Russian children are being forced to learn subjects dictated by the current circumstances in which these two countries find themselves. For this reason, it will be nearly impossible to erase the hostility, animosity, and hatred that have engulfed these two peoples from the consciousness of future generations.