High school students will learn the basics of modern combined arms combat and the use of UAVs in life safety training.

Russian high school students will be required to study in class the basics of modern combined arms combat, as well as methods of combat use of unmanned aerial vehicles. The Ministry of Education intends to make appropriate adjustments to the course on the fundamentals of safe living (HSL), which from September 1 next year will be called “Fundamentals of Security and Defense of the Motherland” (BSD). The Ministry of Education did not answer Kommersant about how exactly they will formulate schoolchildren’s understanding of combined arms combat. A source close to the department believes that “the wording was used as a general word,” and “of course, they will not teach children to fight.” Lawyers also warn about the need to “take a strict approach to the formation of content” in order not to violate the requirements of the Federal Law “On the Protection of Children from Information Harmful to Their Health and Development.” “Nowadays, there are often no gas masks in classrooms, and children will definitely only see drones in pictures,” noted teachers interviewed by Kommersant.

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Education posted amendments to educational standards for basic and secondary education for public discussion. The document confirms the renaming of the school subject “Fundamentals of Safe Life” to “Fundamentals of Security and Defense of the Motherland”, and also imposes new requirements for mastering the discipline. In particular, the program for students in grades 10–11 must now reflect “the level of knowledge about the elements of initial military training (including general military regulations, combat, tactical, fire, engineering, military medical and technical training); acquiring knowledge of safety requirements when handling small arms.” Moreover, the new standards also imply “the formation of ideas about modern combined arms combat; understanding of the possibilities of using modern achievements of scientific and technological progress in modern combat conditions, including methods of combat use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).” In addition to strengthening the basic military training block in the general education program, the Ministry of Education is also busy developing standards for electives on non-military military training (knowledge will be taught at an advanced level).

We would like to remind you that in the summer of 2023, the State Duma adopted amendments to the law “On Education”, which provided for the renaming of life safety to obzr and the strengthening of the NVP block.

The head of the Ministry of Education, Sergei Kravtsov, who stated in the summer of 2022 that no changes were planned to the life safety programs, then considered the changes necessary: ​​“The school curriculum must always meet the challenges of the time. It is updated regularly so that the children have the most up-to-date knowledge. This process also affects units of basic military training, which in itself is not new for our school curriculum.” And in November, Mr. Kravtsov, communicating with the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, noted that the republic has a strong patriotic education and “this experience will be important and useful in the framework of creating new programs on the “Fundamentals of Security and Defense of the Motherland.”

The Ministry of Education did not give Kommersant an immediate explanation of how they would formulate high school students’ ideas about “modern combined arms combat.” A source close to the department explained in a conversation with Kommersant that “this formulation is used as a general word for different types of battles,” and such knowledge is necessary “so that students have an idea of ​​the ways in which war is waged in the modern world, because only then they will be able to understand how to protect themselves and their loved ones.” The interlocutor added that “of course, they will not teach children to fight.”

Member of the working group on parliamentary control over the development of the OZR, deputy Yana Lantratova (SRZP) also assures that “children will not be taught to fight”: “They will receive skills that will help them navigate an emergency situation. Let’s hope they won’t need it.” Mrs. Lantratova, commenting on the technical details, noted that “the Ministry of Education is engaged in the inventory of classrooms, so there should be no problems with this, but there are still not enough teachers.” She added that “those who wish, including SVO participants” can undergo retraining and begin teaching the subject.

Art. 5 of the federal law “On the Protection of Children from Information Harmful to Their Health and Development” prohibits the dissemination among children of information that “justifies or justifies the permissibility of violence and (or) cruelty or encourages violent actions towards people,” recalls a partner of the legal agency “ Legal assistance” Alexey Vinokurov. In this regard, Mr. Vinokurov draws attention to the fact that the compilers of the training course “will have to strictly approach the formation of content” in order not to violate the requirements of the law: “The program should not contain scenes of violence, taking into account, for example, the prevalence of inhuman content on the Internet related to the use of UAVs, when there is a hunt even for individual fighters.” However, according to the lawyer, “it is possible to form an idea of ​​combined arms combat without describing ways to kill the enemy.”

“Much depends on the details – how exactly the curriculum will be developed and how the emphasis will be placed,” supports Maria Yakovleva, director of the Yakovlev and Partners legal group, adding that the program “can be justified from a legal point of view, subject to strict compliance with the laws and focusing on the humane aspects of the use of technical means.” As an example, Ms. Yakovleva cites the use of UAVs in reconnaissance and during the evacuation of the wounded, when “the competent use of such technical means can save people’s lives.”

“If earlier in class we disassembled a Kalashnikov assault rifle, today it is in the spirit of the times to study UAVs. The main thing is that methods of lethal use are not studied, scenes of violence that affect the fragile child’s psyche are not shown,” notes the lawyer.

The head of the city methodological association of life safety teachers of Chelyabinsk, Vladimir Baklunin, notes that the life safety program has historically been reformed by the challenges of the time. “In the USSR, weapons of mass destruction of a potential enemy were considered the main threat, so mass movements from the “kill zone” were practiced,” says the expert. “Against this background, it was decided to introduce the subject of non-military weapons into the school curriculum: in lessons they put on gas masks, disassembled machine guns, girls studied apply bandages for wounds. After the collapse of the USSR, the CIS countries saw that other dangers were growing in society: extremism, terrorism, and the number of HIV-positive people among drug addicts was growing. And in schools they introduced the subject of healthy lifestyle, which, in addition to preparing for the army, also aims to prevent healthy lifestyle, develop algorithms for actions in emergencies, etc.” However, because of this, the subject turned out to be overloaded, and there is a critical shortage of qualified teachers and technical support: “Life safety training is taught either by former military men who teach, as in the USSR, to march and put on gas masks, or by former doctors/nurses who studied first aid back in university.” The methodologist considers the appearance of a module about UAVs inappropriate, “since there is not enough money even for bandages to study first aid.” “At the forum, teachers were recommended to contact the Avangard centers, which are located at military units, but I won’t take children 150 km to conduct a lesson on controlling a UAV,” Mr. Baklunin is indignant. “Therefore, many will study this topic from pictures, like and disassembly/assembly of AK assault rifles, which are simply not available in schools.”

“Most leaders do not perceive the subject as important and fund it on a residual basis, and rural schools, in principle, will not handle it,” Marat Gimatdinov, a life safety teacher from the Ulyanovsk region, supported his colleague. He also expressed concern about the textbook on the modernized subject announced by the head of the Ministry of Education Sergei Kravtsov. The State Duma promised that the layout of the manual would be ready “in March-April”; “the regions have already been informed that textbooks will be available for the new academic year and that funds must be provided for their purchase.” According to the teacher, in such a short time it will not be possible to qualitatively discuss the textbook with the teaching community, “in order to avoid constant stupid mistakes.”

Polina Yachmennikova, Alexander Voronov