Russian college students are returning to high school, the place they face new classes to spice up their patriotism

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Clad in white shirts and carrying bouquets, kids throughout Russia flocked again to high school Friday, the place the Kremlin’s narratives in regards to the conflict in Ukraine and its confrontation with the West had been taking an much more distinguished spot than earlier than.

Students are anticipated every week to take heed to Russia’s nationwide anthem and watch the nation’s tricolor flag being raised. There’s a weekly topic loosely translated as “Conversations about Important Things,” which was launched final yr with the aim of boosting patriotism.

A brand new highschool historical past textbook has a chapter on the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and the “special military operation” – the Kremlin’s euphemism for the conflict, and a few primary navy coaching is included in a course on self-defense and first support.

President Vladimir Putin even acquired concerned, personally assembly Friday with 30 college college students from completely different areas and describing Russians as “an invincible nation.” The Kremlin referred to as it “an open lesson” as a part of the “Conversations About Important Things” program of research.

“School … is a powerful mechanism for raising a person subordinate to the state,” stated Nikolay Petrov, visiting researcher on the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. “For a while the school was outside the active attention of the state. Today, it’s all coming back.”

The Kremlin grew to become preoccupied with what was on the minds of younger individuals a number of years in the past, when youngsters and college students flocked to unauthorized protests organized by now-imprisoned opposition chief Alexei Navalny.

“The Kremlin suddenly began to pay a lot of attention to children and the youth,” Petrov famous.

Putin began assembly with younger individuals repeatedly, and authorities began investing in pushing its political narrative. The effort seemed to be pushed by the belief that an entire technology of people that grew up with Putin as president “can think differently than the Kremlin wants them to,” the analyst stated.

There have been frequent media reviews lately about academics dressing down, shouting or calling police on college students who categorical assist for the opposition or anti-government views.

The crackdown intensified after Moscow despatched troops to Ukraine, and academics had been fired or compelled to stop after refusing to carry classes of the “Conversations About Important Things.” Parents confronted strain from college directors and authorities if their kids skipped these classes.

Earlier this yr, authorities the city of Yefremov, south of Moscow, convicted and imprisoned a single father whose daughter drew an antiwar sketch in school.

The Education Ministry has unveiled an eleventh grade historical past textbook, with a chapter overlaying Russia from 2014 to the current. It justifies the annexation of Crimea and the invasion of Ukraine, and paints the West as hostile towards Moscow. Questions in regards to the combating had been featured in a pattern of the ultimate historical past examination that authorities not too long ago launched.

The sensible course on self-defense and first support now consists of some primary navy coaching, with college students being taught about varied weapons and lectures on data warfare and the risks of extremist teams.

Some dad and mom say they’re rattled by these necessary classes.

“I’ve discovered that, to my horror, ideological lessons have become mandatory for my daughters and there is no chance of avoiding that,” stated Sergei, a Muscovite whose two daughters have simply began highschool. He and different dad and mom spoke to The Associated Press on the situation that their final names not be revealed out of issues for his or her security.

“I now have to explain and ask the girls to be more careful with what they say in school in order to not to inflict harm on themselves,” he stated.

Sergei stated his daughters, whose interest is ballroom dancing, are “all of a sudden asking questions about the flight range of missiles and drones.”

“The mind of school students becomes militarized, history textbooks are being re-written, mandatory ideology is being imposed, he said. “Russian schools rapidly turn back to the worst Soviet examples, when two histories and two truths existed.”

A dad or mum now has fewer alternatives to guard children “from brainwashing,” he added.

Other Muscovites advised AP they had been fortunate to have their kids attend colleges the place academics weren’t following the directives to the letter, making an attempt to avoid politics.

“We got teachers who understand everything. They won’t say out loud that they’re against ‘Conversations About Important Things,’” stated Vladimir, whose daughter is in a Moscow college.

“We got a teacher who came up with her own content for the lesson and talked about, for example, theater, history of Moscow, other depoliticized topics without ideology,” he stated.

Anna, whose son attends center college in Moscow, additionally stated she is grateful to the varsity and its directors for not taking “an aggressive stance” and never resorting to propaganda. She stated the varsity has the weekly anthem ceremony and featured a lesson about Crimea final yr, however little else, “so I’m not worried about it.”

Vladimir believes that academics who’re well-educated, important thinkers will have the ability to circumvent the necessities. If they’re “crafty and flexible,” he stated, they may most likely “formally implement what they’re being told, but in reality quietly sabotage it.”