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Zenger
Zenger
National
Bibhu Pattnaik

In A Throwback To Soviet-Era Policies, Russia To Introduce Mandatory Military Training For Students

Russian military cadets wait for an excursion at Manezhnaya Square just outside the Kremlin in Moscow on September 26, 2022. Russian high school students will be given military training from next year. NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Russia has announced that military training will be introduced into the country’s high school curriculum starting in 2023. The new curriculum will put students through around 35 hours of training.

“It will be introduced in schools starting from the next academic year. Now it is being drafted and after January 1, it will begin to be tested,” said Education Minister Sergey Kravtsov in an interview with the Russian media outlet ITAR-TASS. The new course is currently being drafted by Russian education authorities, and after 1 Jan, it will begin to be tested. 

According to the Russian daily Izvestia, this approach resembles the Soviet-era practice where high-school students learn first aid, navigation skills, and how to handle rifles. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin (C), accompanied by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (L) and Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the Russian General Staff, oversee the ‘Vostok-2022’ military exercises at the Sergeevskyi training ground outside the city of Ussuriysk on the Russian Far East on 6 Sept., 2022. Russia is looking to introduce military training to high school students. MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV/SPUTNIK/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

However, teachers in various schools have said that the Russian curriculum is already overloaded with numerous other new subjects, raising concerns about how the program will be implemented, the Russian daily reported. 

Russia’s Deputy Defense Minister Valery Gerasimov has supported introducing military training in schools. He has suggested that students in the 10th and 11th grades be given 140 hours of training, Izvestia reported.

Kravtsov has said that teachers will start undergoing training, which is expected to be completed by January 1, 2023. It will initially be launched as a pilot program before getting final approval.

A missile in the middle of the field is seen after Russian retreat from Kherson as the Russian-Ukrainian war continues on November 13, 2022. A new military training course will be introduced to Russian high schools next academic year. METIN AKTAS/ANADOLU AGENCY VIA GETTY IMAGES

Meanwhile, on Friday, Ukraine’s armed forces entered the strategic city of Kherson in southern Ukraine following the retreat of the Russian troops.

Despite the retreat, the Kremlin warned that Kherson’s status did not change, claiming that the city was still “part of Russia.

“All of us already feel the approach of our victory. Because we preserve our unity and know that we are rightfully on our land,” Ukranian President Zelensky said in an address following the city’s liberation.

Produced in association with Benzinga.

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