Belarusian schools moving toward greater militarization
August 18, Pozirk. Belarusian high schools will introduce instruction in operating unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as the country, which borders the warring sides Russia and Ukraine, intensifies its militarization.
The 10-hour UAV course will culminate in field training, Iryna Karžova of the education ministry said at a news conference on August 18.
She added that battlefield first-aid lessons would also be added to the medical training program for high school students.
In Belarus, military-patriotic education has become part of the state education system, from kindergartens to universities.
According to the interior ministry, about 7,000 children are already enrolled in its military-patriotic clubs. These clubs are training “a whole army of children,” Deputy Interior Minister Mikałaj Karpiankoŭ said on March 18. He expects most graduates to join the police and other security agencies in the future.
Militarization begins at preschool age. In some kindergartens, special “patriotic groups” are created for five-year-old children. They are given military-style uniforms, participate in drills and are taught about the “duty to defend the Motherland.” At public celebrations, children are dressed in camouflage, given state flags and required to take part in ideological events in the presence of officials and prosecutors.
Military-patriotic clubs are also spreading in schools, along with oath-taking ceremonies, meetings with Russian military personnel and lectures in which religious and state ideology are closely intertwined. Belarusian teenagers are sent to Russia to attend events involving veterans of the war against Ukraine, while school competitions such as “Sharp Shooter” have been incorporated into the Russian system.
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