National Centre RUSSIA congratulates you on Knowledge Day

On 1 September, Russia celebrates Knowledge Day, a holiday that unites people of different ages.

For first-graders, it is the first time they enter school, the first ringing of a school bell, and a step into a new world. For high schoolers and students, this is the beginning of an important period of their life when they have to make a choice and decide on the future. For parents and educators, it is a reminder of the role that education plays in the lives of children and society. For the whole country, this day symbolizes a look into the future, which is being built by people’s common efforts.

School is a place where personality is formed, responsibility is fostered, talents are discovered and dreams are born. A child learns to respect what has been done by others, to be proud of his country, to understand its past, and to believe in its future. School becomes a place where the first friendship starts, mentors appear, and a desire to learn new things is born.

Each new academic year is an important contribution to the future of Russia, where knowledge, work and talent unite people and make the country stronger.

About the Day of Knowledge

A tradition of starting the school year on 1 September came to Russia in the 15th century from Byzantium. Following the decree of Peter the Great in 1700, the New Year celebrations were determined to start on 1 January, but for quite a while, the educational institutions had no single date for starting classes, and schools opened at different times. In the USSR before the 1930s, there was no precise date for the beginning of the school year, as well. The situation changed under the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars which was approved on 14 August 1930: all children aged 8-10 had to go to school in the autumn.

Officially, Knowledge Day was established on 1 September 1984 by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR as a national holiday.

Today, on 1 September, first-graders are especially warmly welcomed. A first school bell rings at the assemblies of school children and the teaching staff, the Russian flag is raised, the national anthem is sung, congratulations and words of wisdom are said. It still goes as a school tradition when a high schooler carries on his shoulder a first-grader girl with a bell in her hand.