The Russian Academy of Education is discussing a program for teaching the basics of various religions at school

On February 18, Elena Romanova, a consultant with the Department of State Policy and Legal Regulation in Education of the Ministry of Education and Science, said that a program for teaching the basics of various religions at school would be developed by an interfaith working group. The “Spiritual and Moral Culture” component will become part of the new state educational standard.

According to representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church, within the framework of this direction it is possible to teach the foundations of not only Orthodox culture, but also the foundations of other “traditional” religions for Russia. The interests of the non-religious part of the population will also be taken into account.

Let us recall that in November 2007, the Russian Orthodox Church proposed to the Ministry of Education its concept of teaching military-industrial complex within the framework of a new subject. However, E. Romanova believes that religious organizations should not independently determine how much, in what volume and in what form this knowledge should be given to the student. “This should be decided by the people who write educational standards,” she said.

At the proposal of the President of the Russian Academy of Education Nikolai Nikandrov, the interfaith working group will be headed by the chief researcher of the State Research Institute of Family and Education Igor Metlik.

Sources

• Representatives of different faiths will develop a school curriculum on the basics of religions // Newspaper (with reference to RIA Novosti). 2008. February 18.