MOSCOW - Russian Education Minister Vladimir Filippov told
the Echo Moscow radio station Wednesday that “religion should not be taught in
Russia’s schools.”
“Religion should be taught in specialized schools. Only culture should be
taught in mainstream schools,” he added.
Since Russia is a multinational state, it would be reasonable to write a
“textbook that could be used to teach children about Russia’s different faiths
— Orthodox Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism and Islam,” he said.
Filippov added that the Education Ministry has not officially approved the
textbook, “Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture.”
He said that “Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture” could appear in some schools
because until the summer of 2002 “anybody could write a textbook, and any
school could buy it.”
A new law states that schools can now use only those textbooks that have been
officially approved by Russia’s Education Ministry, he noted.