Evolution in Russian History Education for Students
New History Study Program Introduced for Russian Students
As of 2025, adjustments are being made to the history curriculum for Russian students in grades 5 to 7. According to "RIA Novosti," these changes include an increase in the number of history lessons from two to three per week, starting from the new academic year.
In specific terms, grades 6 to 7 will experience an extension of the "World History" course by five hours and a significant boost of 12 hours for the "Russian History" course. Furthermore, a new course, "History of Our Region," will be incorporated, totalling 17 hours.
For students entering grade 5, they will be introduced to the "History of Our Region" course with one hour per week, spaning a total of 34 hours. Meanwhile, the history program for grades 8 to 11 remains unchanged, with two hours per week.
By the way, did you know?There are debates about the integration of spiritual and moral education into the curriculum for grades 5 to 7. Starting from September 2026, a new subject, "Spiritual and Moral Culture," is expected to be mandatory. This subject focuses on embodying the spiritual and moral values of Russian civilization through the exploration of its heroes. It's worth noting that a proposal has been made to merge this subject with the Russian history course for grades 5 to 7, but this has faced criticism from Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church [1].
As for unified textbooks, there's no recent data pointing to their implementation across all subjects in Russia. Nevertheless, a textbook for the "Spiritual and Moral Culture" subject is under development to cater to all three grades (5 to 7) and is expected to be ready by November, before the subject's introduction in September 2026 [1].
On a separate note, back in May 2022, the Minister of Education, Sergei Kravtsov, announced plans to introduce new unified textbooks for all subjects. The creation of unified history textbooks has already begun, led by Vladimir Medinsky, an assistant to the president. The first books, a unified state textbook on world history and Russian history for grades 10 to 11, were presented in 2023 [2].
Keep in mind that while there are no immediate changes to the history curriculum, discussions and initiatives are ongoing to innovate Russian history education. Some projects aim to challenge traditional approaches to Russian history with the intention of stirring change in Russian society [3]. However, these endeavors do not directly concern the implementation of unified textbooks across all subjects.
- The integration of spiritual and moral education into the curriculum for grades 5 to 7 is a topic of debate, with a new subject, "Spiritual and Moral Culture," expected to be mandatory starting from September 2026.
- As for general news in education-and-self-development, the creation of unified textbooks for history subjects has already begun, led by Vladimir Medinsky, an assistant to the president, with the first books to be presented in 2023 for grades 10 to 11.
