Children attend a pioneer induction ceremony on Red Square in Moscow, Russia, 18 May 2025. Photo: EPA-EFE/YURI KOCHETKOV

A new school subject, Russia’s Spiritual and Moral Culture, will be mandatory for schoolchildren from the fifth to seventh grade from 2026, state-owned news agency TASS reported on Tuesday, citing Alexey Lubkov, the dean of Moscow’s Pedagogical State University (MPGU).

Lubkov said the new textbook for all three grades would be ready by November, while the subject would form part of the curriculum as of 1 September 2026, leading to changes elsewhere in the teaching plan.

The new subject will cover “the spiritual and moral values of Russian civilisation by studying the life and achievements of its heroes”, Lubkov told TASS, saying that additional material would include a video guide, which was currently being worked on.

The subject textbook is being jointly worked on by MGPU and Metropolitan Tikhon Shevkunov, known as Vladimir Putin’s confessor.

Russia’s Education Ministry had previously published proposals to merge spiritual and moral culture lessons with the Russian history course as of 1 September 2025. Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, criticised the idea, pleading for grades 5-7 to continue their spiritual education.

The ministry did, however, remove the course from social studies for grades 6-8, and reduced the course for tenth-graders from two hours to one per week, to take effect from 1 September 2025.