Inspiring examples for schoolchildren: "Pantheon of Heroes" presented at the National Centre RUSSIA

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Spiritual and moral education in schools is not merely a formality: children should grow up with inspiring examples. To achieve this, a "Pantheon of Heroes" should be created for extracurricular activities — a gallery of figures from real history and literature who can serve as genuine moral role models for young people. Minister of Education of the Russian Federation Sergei Kravtsov and Chairman of the Patriarchal Council for Culture, Metropolitan Tikhon (Shevkunov) of Simferopol and Crimea, spoke about this on 30 September as part of the Homeroom Teachers' Forum and the School Principals' Forum at the National Centre RUSSIA.

On the instructions of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, a project was created jointly with the Patriarchal Council for Culture to introduce schoolchildren to outstanding figures in the country's history through short films.

"When our President made the decision in 2020 to bring upbringing back into schools, the question arose of how all this work should be organised. Today, there is an institution of advisers to school principals on upbringing, every school and college has an educational programme, a branch of the Movement of the First, a flag-raising ceremony and performance of the National Anthem at the beginning of each school week, and 'Conversations about Important Things' lessons. And we can see the results of this work. We are very grateful to you, colleagues, for supporting these values and shaping the worldview of the younger generation. But this is difficult without examples for young people to look up to. I think each of you has watched one film or another, and each of you has people you look up to and examples you admire. There are many of them, and our schoolchildren should know about them," emphasised Sergei Kravtsov.

The Minister also noted that, at Metropolitan Tikhon's initiative, videos about outstanding figures and heroes of Russia have been included in the extracurricular "Conversations about Important Things" programme. In addition, the video materials will also be used in lessons for the new school subject "Spiritual and Moral Culture of Russia", which is intended to foster traditional universal values through examples from the lives of outstanding figures and heroes of the Motherland.

"In the history of every civilisation, there are people whose mission is to carry the light of the highest human values. They can be discussed at length and studied in textbooks, but for these ideals to truly resonate in the hearts of young people, a special approach is needed. We need living examples — heroes who embodied the finest qualities of the human spirit in their lives. Today, when shaping the worldview of the younger generation is becoming a priority, creating a 'Pantheon of Heroes' is not merely a cultural project, but a necessary public institution," Metropolitan Tikhon (Shevkunov) noted in his address. 

The Humanitarian Projects Foundation is producing the videos for "Conversations about Important Things" on the instructions of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation. The films, running for 10–15 minutes, are being created by a professional team of screenwriters, directors, artists and actors. The short films also make use of modern technologies, including elements of animation, while every frame is still the result of human creativity and thorough work on the material.

A total of 82 films are planned as part of the project. Since the beginning of September this year, they have become a mandatory part of the school extracurricular programme: every Monday, they are shown to students in Years 6 to 11. In the near future, the project is expected to be expanded, with the films to be shown on national television so that the widest possible audience can learn about these people and their stories.

The "Pantheon of Heroes" project was discussed during the panel session "Personal Stories: The Values That Shape Us". Sergei Novikov, Chief of the Presidential Directorate for Social Projects; Maria Zakharova, Director of the Information and Press Department and official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and Alexei Likhachev, Director General of the Rosatom State Corporation, also joined the discussion.

At the National Centre RUSSIA, the All-Russian Homeroom Teachers' Forum and the First School Principals' Forum brought together the most active and enterprising members of the teaching community from regions across Russia and from abroad to discuss upbringing, the development of education and the future of the modern school. Both events are being held on the instructions of the President of the Russian Federation with the support of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation. The Humanitarian Projects Foundation is the operator.