Schools offered to hold lessons on the benefits of import substitution

In addition to these recommendations, the manual contains a link to a video about the benefits of import substitution. “The teacher, together with the students, concludes that economic policy in recent years has been aimed at increasing the security of domestic producers, ensuring its sustainability in the face of external crises,” the lesson script says. Pupils in grades 5-9 should name measures to support the Russian economy and citizens in the “conditions of increased sanctions pressure”, and high school students should describe the economic effect of them.

At the end of the lesson, students must fill out a questionnaire and answer the questions: “Are sanctions against Russia fair?”, “Will sanctions lead to a strengthening of the Russian economy?”, “Who will suffer the greatest economic losses: Russia, NATO countries, all countries of the world?” .

Kommersant found reports of lessons on sanctions on the websites of some schools in the Moscow region, Oryol and Samara regions. Teachers from schools in Crimea and Sevastopol confirmed to the publication that they should conduct such a lesson. The Ministry of Education of the Irkutsk Region reported that lessons on import substitution have already been held in 154 schools for 85,000 students in the format of extracurricular hours. The department noted that “children in general show interest and respond positively to information.”

The Ministry of Education confirmed to the newspaper that it had sent manuals on sanctions to schools. The manual was developed by the Institute for Education Development Strategy, subordinated to the Ministry. The department explained that schoolchildren are offered to get acquainted “with the measures taken by the president and the government to counter sanctions from unfriendly countries”, in particular, with the policy of import substitution. “The lesson involves the active work of students when working with documents, interactive materials containing important information about the achievements of the Russian economy in various sectors, its readiness to resist sanctions,” the Ministry of Education added.

Earlier, three teachers from Moscow schools told RBC that the Moscow Department of Education and Science held an online meeting for teachers of history and social studies with Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, at which she presented the position of the authorities on the operation in Ukraine and answered questions from teachers. In particular, answering the question of what to say to children who are against the military operation, Zakharova repeated the position of President Vladimir Putin on the “demilitarization” and “denazification” of the neighboring country. According to the teachers, she focused on the fact that “Russia is not invading anywhere, but protecting the republics of the LPR and the DPR.” “Maria Vladimirovna called the special operation the way it is called – namely, a special operation to enforce peace,” Pavel Pankin, a history teacher at school No. 1741, told RBC.