The Ministry of Education will exclude social studies from the curriculum for grades 6–8 from 2025

The Ministry of Education has published an order to exclude social studies from the school curriculum for grades 6–8. Instead, the number of hours of history in high school will be increased – from 340 to 476. The document was published on the official legal information portal. The changes will come into force from September 2025.

“In accordance with the curriculum of basic general education, social studies is studied in grade 9, the total number of recommended study hours is 34 hours, one hour per week for 34 school weeks,” the ministry’s order says. The number of history hours in grades 5–8 will be increased by three per week, and in grade 9 by two.

The Ministry of Education proposed removing social studies from the curriculum for grades 6–8 back in February. The department assured that increasing the number of history lessons will not increase the burden on children. Minister of Education Sergei Kravtsov stated in March, that the teaching of social studies in schools will not be completely cancelled, the study of the subject will continue from the 9th grade.

This decision was supported by one of the authors of the new school history textbook, assistant to the President of Russia Vladimir Medinsky. According to him, many employees of ministries and departments propose to eliminate social studies as a “harmful” subject. Mr. Medinsky offered combine social studies with history on the Unified State Examination and the Unified State Examination. Later Rosobrnadzor reportedthat the department has no such plans.

On the reaction of experts and teachers to the abolition of social studies hours – in the material “Social studies is expelled from high school.”.

Evgeny Belousov