Since the beginning of Russian war against Ukraine, the information space has turned into a field of fierce struggle between the occupiers and the people of Ukraine. Fakes are spread by the Russian occupiers, and ordinary Ukrainians often can do it unknowingly. Today "Trybun" has prepared for you the most known fakes about education and educational institutions.
Ukrainian children are being trained to work in the fields
In February 2023, Russian propagandists said that children in Ukraine would have less mathematics lessons, but more physical education and Polish ones. In this way they are "prepared to work in the fields".
However, the propagandists made several mistakes, making this fake:
The subject "History of Ukraine" was written as in Russia - "History";
Ukrainian children do not study "Defense of the Fatherland" - from 2020 this subject is called "Defense of Ukraine".
There is a stamp of the Lubny comprehensive school № 3 on the "document", and the school № 49 is mentioned in the document, but it does not exist at all.
Let's analyze another example of discrediting. Ukrainian teachers apparently have to undergo "re-certification and re-training". In the summer of 2022, the Russian Minister of Education Serhii Kravtsov stated that "in physics and mathematics lessons, Ukrainian children only played games and they didn't acquire systematic knowledge." According to him, "the purpose of Ukrainian education was the preparation of labor resources for Europe, not knowledge."
Teachers have the right to be sent on leave without pay
The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine officially debunked this fake.
"I emphasize that the Ministry categorically forbids heads of education management bodies and/or heads of educational institutions to make teaching and other employees write applications for leave without salary," the former Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine Serhii Shkarlet said.
According to him, an employee may be granted leave only at his request or may be dismissed in accordance with the requirements of labor legislation.
Military hospitals will be set up in educational institutions
On the eve of the anniversary of the large-scale Russian aggression, the Russians shared information about the alleged transfer of Kyiv educational institutions to the management of other bodies and their conversion into military hospitals.
The order stated that in wartime heads of educational institutions had to perform a number of measures, including:
- transfer of the premises belonged to institutions for "resettlement of the military";
- setting up military hospitals in educational institutions;
- 24-hour access to school grounds for law enforcement officers and the Armed Forces of Ukraine;
- making lists of all male students who have reached the age of 17, with their contacts and residential addresses.
"We officially declare that no orders of the Department were issued to transfer educational institutions of the capital under the management of any other bodies, or to work on a different profile. No additional measures related to martial law were introduced," the Department of Education and Science of the Kyiv City State Administration emphasized
All educational institutions work as usual in Kyiv.
External independent evaluation has been abolished in wartime
Actually, it's a manipulation of information.
Currently, the external independent evaluation has not been canceled and entering process to higher education institutions is planned to be conducted in the usual format.
"We introduced a bill for registration that would change the admission procedure once. We have worked out three options for possible admission without external independent evaluation in the standard format in which it is prescribed by law. However, for today, these are only proposals," the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine noted.
As long as the format of external independent evaluation is not changed, admission to higher education institutions takes place in the same format as it has always been done in the country.
The Russian language was forbidden in Ukraine
The Kremlin is trying to spread its influence on the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, and primarily in the field of children's education to rapidly re-educate a new generation of Ukrainians. In order to achieve this goal, the study of the Russian language and history was made mandatory - the material is interpreted by Russian propaganda, in particular, today's events are shown according to Russian vision. The occupation authorities argue for such haste by the fact that the Russian language was allegedly discriminated in Ukraine before this, as well as other rights of the Russian-speaking population were violated, and therefore it is necessary to "restore justice. "For example, it is reported that the Russian language has not been studied in Kherson oblast since 2013.
The statement that the Russian language has not been studied in Ukraine since 2013 is not true. Although the number of students in Ukraine studying the Russian language decreased every year, in 2022, according to the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, there were 450,000 of them.
Yurii Kononenko, the head of the general secondary and preschool education department of the Ministry of Science and Education of Ukraine, said in a comment to "News of Azov" that the Ukrainian education system could provide opportunities to learn the Russian language for those students whose parents express such a desire.
"If parents want their child to learn a certain language, the language of national minorities or the language of the indigenous people, they can indicate this in the application, and in the future there are certain conditions for the formation of classes - a class is formed if there are at least 5 children. Taking these applications into account, the school then forms a network of classes and its curriculum," Kononenko noted.
According to statistics published by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS), 52% of Ukrainians believe that studying the Russian language in schools is not worth it in any way.33% of respondents answered that it is possible to devote less time (or as much) to learning this language as to other foreign languages (for example, English, German).
6% advocate that Russian should be taught in schools less than Ukrainian, but more than such foreign languages as English, German, etc.5% could not decide and only 3% believe that Russian should be studied for the same amount of time as the state Ukrainian.
In 2019, only 8% of Ukrainians believed that it was not necessary to learn Russian at all. Now there are 52% of people with such opinion.
"And although now 42% support preserving the study of the Russian language to a certain extent, but even here there have been significant internal changes in the direction of decreasing the time that should be devoted to the study of the Russian language. In 1998, 46% believed that the scope of study should be the same as for the Ukrainian language. In 2019, the figure was 30%, and now it is only 3%," the press service reported.
In all regions of Ukraine, more and m believe that the Russian language should not be studied at all.
Children in Ukrainian schools are encouraged to inform on their parents
This is one of the strongest and funniest fakes about education in Ukraine.
The pro-Russian news agency "DonPress" in occupied Donetsk published a fake leaflet urging schoolchildren to inform on their parents. The text was full of mistakes.
The author of the news allegedly received photo evidence from one of the educational institutions in the controlled territory of Ukraine, which shows that children are forced to inform on their parents. The photo shows a school bulletin board. There is a poster with the words of the Ukrainian national anthem, an image of Patron the dog and an announcement about the donation of 40 hryvnias for a trip to the theater.
There is a supposed "reminder" for children next to this information. It explains, in which cases they should inform on their relatives to teachers and the school administration. The list includes relatives in the Russian Federation, everyday conversations in Russian, parents' viewing of Russian TV channels, and criticism of the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
However, there is a detail in the photo that immediately cast doubt on the authenticity of this document. Instead of the phrase "Tell the teacher" ( Rozkazhy vchyteltsi in Ukrainian) , with which this card should have started, the following is printed: "Rozpovi vchyteltsi".
Reading this propagandists' story, Ukrainians and some companies launched a flash mob on social networks, where they offered their versions of "denunciations" and at the same time mocked the Russians' lack of elementary knowledge of grammar.
In addition, propaganda telegram channels distributed a photo of the questionnaire, which students of grades 1-5 at the Mykolaiv Secondary School of I-III degrees №43 are allegedly asked to fill out. The questionnaire consists of 5 questions, namely: "What is your name?", "What grade are you in?", "Do you know that on February 21, 2023 the address of the President of Russia Volodymyr Putin took place?", "If so, where are you from learned about it?", "Did you or your relatives watch it?", "Do your relatives watch Russian channels at home?" .According to the propagandists, such a photo was sent to them by a teacher from this school, and, according to her, it is a denunciation of parents. They also suggest that the information is then passed on to the Ukrainian special services.
This questionnaire is fake. The Mykolaiv Secondary School of I-III degrees №43 gave a comment to the Ukrinform publication and stated that no survey was conducted, especially a pro-Russian one.
Ukrainian education promoted everything anti-Russian
The Russians have been claiming for over a year that Ukrainian history education was discredited and it promoted everything anti-Russian. They also spread messages about the ban on the Russian language and oppression of Russian-speaking students in Ukrainian schools.
Agitprop uses discrediting tactics to justify the systematic removal and destruction of textbooks: on the Ukrainian history, language and literature. For example, Valentina Lavrik, appointed by the occupiers as the "Minister of Education, Science and Youth" of occupied Crimea, stated in July 2022 that the content of Ukrainian textbooks was "soaked in nationalist ideas", therefore Russia would create its own textbooks in the Ukrainian language.
The Russians also spread fakes about directors of Ukrainian schools in Kherson oblast. All of them allegedly "came from Lviv oblast and underwent special training in Europe and the USA", where, according to the Russian Minister of Education Serhii Kravtsov, "they were taught anti-Russian propaganda and nationalist ideas".
The Kremlin also claim that in the 20s of the last century, "forcible Ukrainization" was carried out for the first time in educational institutions in the south and east of Ukraine, which led to the "erasure of the native Russian language from the memory of Ukrainians."
The occupation mass media are also trying to discredit the Ukrainian language by attaching the label "Banderivska" to it, that is, creating the appearance that Ukrainian is artificial, specially invented.
Similarly, propagandists hang labels on Ukrainian education. Occupation sites of Mariupol quoted in June 2022 the words of the Minister of Education of Russia, Serhii Kravtsov, that "all textbooks and manuals with references to Bandera, Shukhevich and other scum will be removed from school libraries."
Propaganda actively uses labels related to the history of Nazism. The deputy director of one of the institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences Oleksandr Zvyagintsev stated that "the system of education in Ukrainian schools was built according to the principle of the Hitler Youth."
The Armed Forces of Ukraine located their bases in schools
Russia spreads this fake almost every month. One of these, for example, is a fake about the base of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, equipped at school № 23 in Dnipro. Moreover, Ukrainian military personnel allegedly placed artillery and armored vehicles near the educational institution.
The head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Council, Mykola Lukashuk, reacted to the hostile fake, which was quickly supported by many Russian mass media. He says that there is indeed military equipment near the school, because there is a museum nearby. And there is no base of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the school.
Russia also spread a fake about the equipment of the Armed Forces in the school located in Zaporizhzhia. The occupation media reported that the Ukrainian military had equipped firing positions and ammunition depots there. Such information was made public in the Telegram channel of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation with reference to the data of the Interdepartmental Coordination Headquarters of the Russian Federation for Humanitarian Response.
However, the head of the city's department of education and science, Olena Buynevych, said that only security, teachers and the directorate, preparing for the end of the school year, were in the educational institution.
The Ukrainian military also had to refute Russian nonsense about the location of the positions of the Armed Forces in the catacombs, regional hospitals and the Odesa film studio.
Ukrainian schools form lists of draft-age graduates with characteristics of military-patriotic education assessment
The Russians also spread a fake letter, allegedly signed by Vira Rogova, the Deputy Minister of Education and Science. The letter gives instructions to the heads of educational institutions and orders to make lists of draft-age graduates with characteristics of military-patriotic education assessment.
However, the Ministry of Education almost immediately explained that this letter was a fake. "The distribution of the forged document is a confirmation of the information war aimed at creating anxiety in society and discrediting the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. We ask you not to trust the enemy's nonsense messages and fake "documents". All official documents are posted on the website of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine," the ministry emphasizes.
In order to forge a document of the Ministry of Education, the Russians used not only the official form, but also the QR code assigned by the electronic document circulation system.
All schools in Zaporizhzhia switched to Russian standards
This information was disseminated by Russian TV channels. Like, the students told reporters that it was hard for them to study when the teachers spoke to them in Ukrainian. Now teachers explain in classes that Ukrainian language is inconvenient and how Ukrainians themselves get confused with it.
As an example, the TV report shows one of the schools in the temporarily occupied Melitopol, which is under the control of Russian troops. The part of Zaporizhzhia oblast has been occupied by the Russians. The city of Zaporizhzhia has never been under occupation, so no one has taught its students according to Russian standards and these standards are not used now.
Schoolchildren are forced to donate blood for wounded soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
This information was spread on the network. Children were allegedly forced to donate blood for wounded soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in one of the schools of Cherkasy oblast. In order to prove it, the authors attached a photo of the announcement, which states that students of grades 6-12 must come to the nurse's office with a passport or birth certificate to donate blood for the needs of the army. According to the authors of the publication, this photo was distributed in one of the Ukrainian Telegram channels.
Several facts indicate that this ad is fake.
Firstly, according to the Procedure for medical examination of donors of blood and blood components, donors can be persons over 18 years of age with a body weight of at least 50 kg.
In addition, there are permanent and temporary contraindications for donating blood. In particular, donors can never be people with diabetes, cardiovascular and infectious diseases. Temporary contraindications for donating blood include fever, flu-like illnesses, dental treatment, etc.
Secondly, donors should prepare for donating blood. The Ministry of Health recommends not to eat fatty, spicy, fried, smoked food, as well as dairy products, two days before the donation. Moreover, a few days before the procedure, donors should not eat nuts, bananas, dates, and not drink energy drinks, otherwise the procedure will have to be postponed. However, this information is not mentioned in the "announcement".
What is more, the procedure of donating blood can be carried out only in specialized state institutions, blood transfusion institutions and in the relevant divisions of health care institutions only with the relevant license. According to the Law "On the Safety and Quality of Donated Blood and Blood Components", employees must have appropriate qualifications and training, as well as undergo initial and subsequent special training.
The donated blood must be stored in specialized refrigeration equipment and the temperature regime must be constantly monitored. Thermal containers are also required for transporting blood components. It is unlikely that such equipment could be placed in the school.
The "announcement" also states that students in grades 6-12 should donate blood. However, there is no 12th grade in Ukraine now. The Ministry of Education adopted a new 12-year curriculum in schools in 2018. So the first twelfth graders will appear in Ukraine as early as 2029.
In Ukraine, children in schools study a book about Zelenskyy, who travels through time and fights with Stalin
Several Russian media also spread the fake news that in Ukrainian schools children are forced to read a book about how the country's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, travels through time, helps the Ukrainian insurgent army, and also fights against Stalin. It became known thanks to a video spread on the network.
The video reported that in Ukrainian schools, children were forced to read specific fiction on the holidays. In the book entitled "UPA. Help from the Future" Volodymyr Zelenskyy travels through time, fights alongside the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), and also confronts the head of the USSR, Joseph Stalin.
"Javelins" against "T-34".Will the patriots of Ukraine cope with the Western and Eastern invaders? Will the flag of the great Galicia fly over the Reichstag? Volodymyr Oleksandrovich will carry out reconnaissance by combat in 1944!" - it was written on the cover of the book.
Zelenskyy himself was also depicted on the cover together with a soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, an unknown red-haired woman with a weapon in her hands and a dinosaur in the background.
Russian actions in the occupied territories
In the territories occupied after 2022, the Russians began purposefully destroying the Ukrainian education system and oppressing Ukrainian-speaking people. They systematically put pressure on parents and teachers, forcing parents to send their children to occupation educational institutions and making teachers go to work and teach in Russian.
Despite physical threats and abductions, according to the ex-Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine Serhii Shkarlet, only 1% of teachers in the occupied territories cooperated with the enemy. The occupiers rely on the teachers who turned out to be traitors and teachers from Russia.
Parents are also under pressure in the occupied territories. They occupiers usually use a three-level scheme: warning, fine, deprivation of parental rights.
The occupying forces of Russia systematically confiscate and destroy Ukrainian books, especially, Ukrainian language, literature and history textbooks. In particular, the Russians published a list of 365 titles of books that they demand to be destroyed in the occupied Luhansk oblast.
Despite the Russians' claims to restore the educational process in the occupied territories, in reality the invaders managed to start academic year in a very small percentage of schools.
Using all described propaganda tactics, Russia continues to distort reality. In fact, it is not Ukraine that oppresses Russian speakers. It is Russia that destroys Ukrainian culture, destroys cities and kills people and calls it "defense".
