Russia Expands Military Training in Schools
Russian schools have doubled the amount of initial military training, teaching children to handle weapons and drones, while veterans are being hired as teachers and given substantial bonuses. Meanwhile, war veterans and their relatives are being granted preferential access to university admissions, leading to concerns among top-performing students about the value of academic achievement.
Consensus
- Schools in Russia have doubled the amount of initial military preparation.
- Children are being taught how to handle weapons and drones.
- Veterans of the war are being invited to teach in schools.
- The Ministry of Education recognized veterans as having 'unique pedagogical potential'.
- In Zabaykalsky Krai, war veteran teachers receive nearly four times their regular salary.
- A teacher from a rural area in Chita Oblast says he is no longer considered suitable for teaching due to his inability to demonstrate weapon assembly and disassembly.
- Schools are now focused on preparing students for survival amid man-made threats rather than natural dangers.
- Ten percent of university places across all Russian universities are reserved for war participants and their relatives.
- Unfilled spots from other preferential categories can now be transferred to war participants and their relatives.
- In 18 top Russian universities, over 4,300 people were admitted through military quotas—nearly half would not have qualified under general competition.
- Students and parents are questioning the point of academic excellence if admission to university is guaranteed regardless.
- The narrative suggests that state rules are being rewritten to serve wartime needs.
Points of divergence
- The boy Nikita Malyshev, born in 2008, grew up in the Buryat village of Poperечnoye, where there is little work but military contracts offer salaries far exceeding local wages. — tg_sibrealii
- The boy Nikita Malyshev grew up in the Buryat village of Поперечное, where there is little work but military contracts promise wages incomparable to local earnings. — tg_severrealii
Coverage (2 sources)
- Hello! This is Realii.Weekly — Сибирь.Реалии
- Hello! This is Realii.Weekly — Север.Реалии