Senators proposed to make basic military training an independent subject in schools

In March, members of the Federation Council held several meetings with representatives of the Ministry of Education and heads of security forces to discuss the possibility of conducting basic military training as part of a separate school subject. At the moment, the course of initial military training is included in the subject on the basics of life safety.

As told “Parliamentary newspaper” Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security Yuri Valyaev, senators and experts believe that not 35 hours a year, but at least three times more time should be allocated to the course of initial military training. According to him, the majority of committee members support this initiative, and also propose to make basic military training a separate and full-fledged subject.

Yuri Valyaev claims that the final decision on whether initial military training will be an independent subject has not yet been made. Representatives of the Ministry of Education insist that it is necessary to take into account the opinion of the parents of schoolchildren.

According to Ekaterina Altabaeva, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Science, Education and Culture, we are talking primarily about secondary school students. “Children, especially the senior classes, must be ready to defend their homeland – technically, psychologically, and ideologically,” she said.

Ekaterina Altabayeva specified that no changes in the law on education would be required to make basic military training a separate subject. It will be necessary to adjust federal state educational standards and, as a result, federal programs.

In January 2023, Russian Minister of Education Sergei Kravtsov said that schools could introduce a module on basic military training if this initiative approve parents. Later he allowedthat participants in the Russian military operation in Ukraine will be able to teach the course, but after teaching retraining.