Less math, more Mandarin Russian schools are losing teachers — except in military training, ‘spiritual values,’ and Chinese
The number of teachers in Russia is shrinking, even as student enrollment continues to rise. But in three subjects, the ranks of educators are growing, iStories reports. Two are “patriotic” in nature — one focused on Russia’s “spiritual and moral” values, the other on military training. The third, as Moscow tries to pivot eastward and cement new partnerships, is Chinese. Meduza shares the outlet’s findings.
In the 2024–2025 academic year, Russian schools saw the largest increase in teachers across three subjects: two “patriotic” ones — and Mandarin. The fastest-growing group was instructors for “Fundamentals of Spiritual and Moral Culture of the Peoples of Russia,” a course introduced in September 2023. Their numbers more than doubled, rising from 609 to 1,496.
Half of these new teachers were concentrated in just four regions: Chechnya, Dagestan, the Rostov region, and Ingushetia. The most dramatic increase was in Chechnya, where the number of instructors jumped from just 17 to 278.
“Fundamentals of Spiritual and Moral Culture of the Peoples of Russia” had a turbulent rollout. In the spring of 2024, the Education Ministry announced it would be discontinued, with elements of the curriculum folded into history classes instead. But Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill intervened, saying he would personally ask Vladimir Putin to reinstate the program. After a brief pause, the course is set to return to classrooms in the 2025–2026 school year. In addition to studying the cultural traditions of Russia’s many ethnic groups, students will also learn about the “exploits” of Soviet soldiers in World War II and soldiers fighting in the “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Another subject seeing a surge in teachers is Chinese language instruction, with the number of educators more than doubling. The fastest growth occurred in Moscow, where the number of teachers increased from 29 to 136. Over the past year, the number of Moscow schools offering Mandarin has also risen.
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The third-fastest-growing subject is “Fundamentals of Homeland Security and Defense,” which replaced “Fundamentals of Life Safety” in schools on September 1, 2024. For the first time in eight years, the number of teachers in this field has grown — reversing a long decline in “Life Safety” instructors.
Veterans of the war in Ukraine are now being recruited to teach the subject, including some with criminal records for violent offenses. In addition to standard topics like fire safety and traffic rules, students are required to study the structure of the Russian Armed Forces and practice unarmed military drills. Practical lessons include firearms training, combat engineering, and battlefield medical care. In September, some students also took part in five-day military training camps as part of the program.
Meanwhile, the total number of teachers in Russia has been shrinking since 2020. In the 2024–2025 school year, the teaching workforce contracted by more than 2,000 educators, bringing the four-year total decline to 18,000.
Yet student enrollment continues to grow — by more than one million in the past four years. This has placed increasing strain on teachers: in 2017, the average teacher’s workload was equivalent to 1.3 full-time positions, while by 2024, that figure had risen to 1.6.