A bill on unified basic textbooks in four main school subjects - mathematics, Russian history, Russian language and literature - was submitted to the State Duma on Tuesday, according to materials posted in the automated legislative support system.

Unified textbooks will help restore the unity of the educational space and implement a unified state policy in the field of education in Russia, says the accompanying letter from the authors of the bill - deputies Irina Yarovaya and Vyacheslav Nikonov - addressed to State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin.

The bill proposes amendments to the federal laws “On Education” and “On the Contract System in the Sphere of Procurement of Goods, Works, and Services to Meet State and Municipal Needs.” The explanatory note to the document notes that the basic line of textbooks in mathematics, Russian history, Russian language and literature “is intended to provide all children, regardless of the social status of the family and place of residence throughout Russia, with a general state-guaranteed gold standard of education.”

Currently, this is difficult due to the lack of a single mandatory document establishing the basic content of educational subjects. As a result, “52,000 Russian schools created 52,000 different programs.” This gives rise to discrimination against children, inequality in preparation for passing the Unified State Exam and problems when moving to another school where they study using different textbooks, Yarovaya and Nikonov are sure.

In addition, training using basic textbooks “will have a unifying significance for a multinational state based on the historical traditions of the peoples of Russia” and “will be a measure to ensure national security aimed at preserving the historically established state unity, traditions, culture and language, historical identity, and continuity of generations "

According to the authors of the bill, the Russian Academy of Education should develop federal state educational standards.

In mid-February 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the need to develop a unified history textbook in which there would be no room for “internal contradictions and double interpretations.”

In August 2014, Minister of Education and Science Dmitry Livanov said that the ministry had abandoned the idea of introducing a unified history textbook in Russian schools. “We most likely will not have a single history textbook. We will have a single historical and cultural standard, on the basis of which history textbooks will be developed. This does not mean that there will be one single textbook,” Livanov said then. He explained that all written textbooks will undergo public and professional examination.

A bill on basic textbooks was introduced to the State Duma