A compulsory subject was prepared for first-year students – “Fundamentals of Russian Statehood”

A new historical turn in the development of the country, as expected, caused great changes in education. They coincided with changes in training standards that were planned ahead of time. As a result, schools will have sensational new history textbooks (so far they are ready only for grades 10-11, but there will be from 5 to 9). In universities – “Fundamentals of Russian statehood.” Large-scale changes have affected the Unified State Examination in social studies, which few expected in such numbers.

New history textbooks in schools is a fairly widely covered topic. It seems like having a textbook is good, especially for those who are preparing to take the exam this year. The “middle” line of a history textbook for grades 5-9 from Medinsky-Torkunov and Chubaryan, except for experts, has not been seen by anyone. A textbook for high school already exists and deserves moderate marks. For example, at a meeting at MK, Academician Yamburg spoke of him like this: “I don’t want to criticize anyone, people were put in such conditions. There are many mistakes. There are a lot of hurried things.” But Yamburg also noted that “in general, it is difficult to write textbooks.” And he cited Mikhail Bulgakov as an example, who, having an excellent command of Russian, could not compose a textbook.

But there is no textbook on the “new” social science. Yes, and new KIMs, that is, assignments for the Unified State Examination, were seen in schools only the other day, when demo versions were published – on August 25. And they are still trying to comprehend a new codifier, a list of exam topics that has changed a lot. Many then rashly declared that such concepts as “democracy”, “liberalism”, “alternative service”, etc., disappeared from the school curriculum. The supervisory authority had to explain: they did not disappear, but regrouped, entering into other sections and topics.

– Yes, from the outside, it may not be clear what upheavals we have with social science and what this means for schools, students and teachers, – says Victor Mashulin, a teacher of history and social science from the Moscow region. – I can even compare such a scrapping of the program in the subject with the 1990s. That’s except that a single textbook is being introduced, and not vice versa. Specifically, there are fewer topics in social science, but it will be more difficult to pass, as many colleagues believe. Lots of new themes and sub-themes! There is something that was not previously in social science, “anti-corruption policy”, for example. I can welcome the appearance in the economics section of the topic about tax deductions and financial literacy, this was not enough before. There is quite expected: “Spiritual values ​​of the Russian society. The contribution of Russian culture to the formation of the values ​​of modern society” or “The state policy of import substitution in the Russian Federation”. But “Achievements of Contemporary Russian Art” – why is it and what is it about? And before the topic “Russian Society and Man in the Face of Threats and Challenges of the 21st Century”, I myself slightly give up …

As for “democracy”, “alternative service” and other things, Mashulin explains that “they were introduced into other topics: “Forms of the state”, “Ensuring the national security of Russia” … But in general, the changes in the subject are epic. And they happened a few days before the start of the school year. There are no textbooks or manuals on the “new education” yet.

As for HE, “MK” wrote in detail about the new module “Learning by Service”, which will appear in the form of an experiment in 100 universities of the Russian Federation. In essence, this is a project-volunteer activity: the student must choose a socially significant problem, undergo training on how to solve it, and teach others about it. Or unite with social businesses, NGOs and organize permanent assistance. That is, not just ordinary volunteering, but systematic work for the benefit of society. The idea is also that the social function of universities as centers of education is being revived.

But that’s not all. In September, a new subject “Fundamentals of Russian statehood” will appear in universities. Two textbooks on it have been developed at the RANEPA – one for techies and natural scientists (an interesting combination), and the second for the humanities. And benefits vary. “Humanitarian” affirms humanistic value principles in the development of society, Russian and world. But with reservations. For example, it is argued that liberalism “degenerated into completely different, extreme forms.” And ultra-liberal principles are being imposed on “various peoples and civilizations.”

The authors of the manual also have reasoning that the new “democratic values” are aimed at “the idea of ​​​​achieving the physical immortality of people through the gradual transformation of a natural person into a biological object.” Somehow, the “Matrix” of the Wachowski duo immediately comes to mind. By the way, the destruction of “individual physical and sexual characteristics” from the RANEPA team also got it, as well as the harm to the “spiritual and moral qualities” of a person from excessive liberalism.

The “natural-technical” manual, which was prepared by another team of authors, also speaks of traditional Russian values, in defiance of “not ours.” Faith, traditions, housekeeping, service to the Fatherland, striving for justice… Of course, “Orthodoxy, autocracy, catholicity” come to mind, but no – the authors also write that love, honor, dignity and conscience are also important in the life of every person. But other alien values, especially in the family, the authors found opposition here. To preserve identity, childhood and marriage, the drafters urge not to abolish gender differences at all and not to go too far with tolerance.

The Ministry of Education and Science reports that the new subject “Fundamentals of Russian Statehood”, 72 hours, “will be taught in the first year of educational programs of bachelor’s and specialist’s degrees, regardless of the areas of study of students.” In total, the subject consists of five sections: “What is Russia?”, “Russian state-civilization”, “Russian worldview and values ​​of Russian civilization”, “Political structure of Russia”, “Challenges of the future and development of the country”. It will begin to be read to freshmen from September.