“Defense of Ukraine": the Ministry of Education and Science told about the launch of an updated program for schoolchildren

The updated draft of the model curriculum "Defense of Ukraine" developed for students in grades 10-11 is intended to replace the school subject "Defense of the Fatherland." The project is planned to be launched this school year in communities where the security situation allows. The Ministry of Education and Science told UNN about this, as well as how many educational centers are planned to be created, who is planned to be involved in teaching the subject, and what is the difference between the new program and the one previously taught in schools. 

According to the Ministry of Education and Science, the draft model curriculum "Protection of Ukraine" is a key element of a comprehensive update of the subject aimed at forming national identity and skills to protect their own lives. The program is designed for students in grades 10-11. 

We are updating the curriculum and the subject "Defense of Ukraine" to raise the patriotic consciousness of young people, to develop basic skills for life and protection of themselves and others. The updated program has 10 modules, including, for example, first aid in combat, military technology, including UAVs, radio communications, and information warfare. The program has removed rote memorization of statutes, marching in formation, and academic theory. The difference between the updated program is that it contains much more practical training than before. For example, the program includes modules that provide for familiarization with various types of weapons, shooting training and training in shooting with the use of training equipment (electronic, multimedia, laser shooting range, laser tag, airsoft, etc.)

The draft program provides for the same content for all apprentices, regardless of gender, which promotes equal opportunities to acquire important skills. Only religious beliefs and certain health conditions may be an exception for partial completion of the course. According to the Ministry, the subject matter covers a wide range of topics relevant to understanding the modern world, including innovative technologies, information security, and first aid.

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It is important that the concept of teaching the course is being comprehensively updated along with the program. Centers for studying "Defense of Ukraine" will be created and equipped in communities (1 center for 80 to 1000 students), which will have a strong material and technical base. Children will be provided with transportation to the centers, and the course will be taught not in 1-2 lessons per week, but in the format of an all-day training session that will take place once a month (a total of 6-8 academic hours per month). This approach will allow for effective practice of practical skills on high-quality equipment, for the purchase of which UAH 1.64 billion of subvention has been allocated

The Ministry of Education and Science also said whether it plans to create a new textbook on "Defense of Ukraine," as it was previously with the subject "Defense of the Fatherland," noting that "creating a textbook under the new program requires a lot of time and work of many specialists. Therefore, this year the competition for the textbook is not announced, so teachers will have methodological recommendations for each module that they can use in the classroom." 

It is noted that in December last year, the Cabinet of Ministers allocated UAH 1.74 billion from the state budget for the Defense of Ukraine lessons. UAH 1.64 billion will be spent on the purchase of training equipment, including drone control simulations, training ranges and models, as well as first aid kits and cardiac resuscitation simulators.

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The program is currently marked "Recommended," but on July 31, the Institute for Modernization of Education Content approved the program and the ministry will soon approve the relevant order to launch it.

It is also noted that starting in 2024, communities where the security situation allows, should create and equip centers for studying the updated subject. The cost of the center will depend on the number of children who will be taught there and the list of equipment that was on the school's balance sheet and does not need to be updated. Communities independently form an estimated application and send it to the departments of education. 

The updated subject will be taught everywhere, and the program is also included in the Ukrainian studies component, which will be studied by Ukrainian students abroad. The format of the program will depend on the security situation: in-person or distance learning. According to the order, RMAs have until October 1 to set up centers, and their number depends on the decision at the local level, since it is the RMAs that model the network. But according to our estimates, the approximate number of centers is up to 1200 across the country

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The ministry noted that it is planned to purchase furniture, training equipment, devices, including radios, binoculars, dosimeters, compasses, etc.; equipment: body armor, first aid kits, air rifles, training grenades, helmets, carbines, mats, bullets, etc.; models, drone flight simulators. 

The centers will be set up in all territorial communities, with priority given to those schools where specialized lyceums are planned to be opened. 

Representatives of the Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including former military personnel, instructors and other military formations will be involved in the training process. 

Teachers in the center can specialize in certain units, such as combat first aid or military technology. Before they start teaching, they will undergo advanced training courses, to which representatives of various organizations will be invited. Cooperation with experts has been ongoing from the beginning of the conceptual framework

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The institutes of postgraduate pedagogical education plan to conduct training for all teachers who will teach in the centers. Certified trainers will teach four modules: "basics of national security," "information warfare," "basics of management and planning," and updated approaches to teaching the subject. Other modules of the program will be taught by specialists on the base.

"The training will take place until the new year, the schedule and stages are determined by the institutes themselves. The training program is based on a typical teacher training program approved by the Ministry of Education and Science. The training participants went through several stages of selection: a questionnaire and an online interview (in the case of the second wave). The main selection criterion was the experience of teaching "Defense of Ukraine", experience of interaction with adults and adolescents, combat experience and civic position," the ministry said. 

However, they emphasized that there are no plans for a third wave of training, and that the number of trainers who have been trained so far is sufficient to provide teachers with training in the modules "Fundamentals of National Security," "Information Warfare," "Fundamentals of Management and Planning," and updated approaches to teaching the subject.

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