Currently, for the further prosperity of our country, it is very important that a person receives not only a high-quality education, he must contribute to its effective development as much as possible. To do so, it is important to instill in children a love for the heroic and historical past and culture of their people, pride in their native language and the beauty of their country’s nature.

Teachers face the difficult task of forming in each child all the necessary qualities that will lay an unbreakable founding stones for personal development.

The President's message to the Belarusian people and the National Assembly noted that the economic revival of our republic cannot be achieved without the civic development of every person. The content, character, and direction of the socio-economic and political development of the Republic of Belarus depend on the extent to which a person feels like a human being, realizes his involvement in what is happening, his responsibility for the fate of the Fatherland as well as his values and worldview.

The result of the civic-patriotic education is not just a law-abiding citizen, but a person who consciously and actively fulfills his civic duty. It involves instilling respect for the State flag and coat of arms of the Republic of Belarus, the heroic and historical past, and the culture of its people.

In this regard, patriotism and civic consciousness are of great importance in the social and spiritual development of a person. Only on the basis of uplifting feelings of patriotism and national shrines does love for the homeland become stronger, a sense of responsibility for its power and independence, preservation of material and spiritual values increases.

Teaching civic consciousness and patriotism is one of the core tasks of a modern educational institution. The basis of it is the formation in young people of a high patriotic consciousness, readiness to fulfill civic duty and constitutional responsibilities to protect the interests of the Motherland, and successfully fulfill civic duties in peacetime and wartime.

According to information from Tatyana Osmolovskaya, consultant of the department of social, educational and ideological work of the Main Directorate of Educational Work and Youth Policy of the Ministry of Education, solid and sound interaction has been established between the educational and military departments on patriotic education.

Thus, the Armed Forces annually provide assistance to institutions of general secondary education to improve the educational and material base of pre-conscription training, carry out free transfers of clothing and military medical equipment, radiation, chemical and biological protection equipment, models of engineering ammunition, small arms, topographic maps, original layouts of posters on combat training subjects and e-versions of teaching aids.

In 2023, the Ministry of Defense did huge donations to institutions of general secondary education. Its charitable donations include 32 AK-74 models, almost 4 thousand gas masks, more than 2.5 thousand sets of protective suits, almost 4.1 thousand educational cards, about 2.1 thousand copies of service regulations, as well as raincoats, protective helmets, small sapper and infantry shovels, bowlers, flasks, medical and field bags for sergeants, pouches for grenades and magazines.

The Ministry of Education also purchased for schools 191 multimedia training simulators - shooting ranges and equipment for it. Joint work with law enforcement agencies continues to involve student youth in military-patriotic clubs. As of January 1, there were 54 clubs in the country, with more than 3 thousand members. Officials continue inaugurating new clubs as well as new ones under the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

In addition, changes have been made to the regulations on the cadet school and the Suvorov military school, providing for the possibility of preferential admission for students of such clubs to military specialties.

Republican actions and events on military-patriotic theme took place to develop students' readiness to fulfill responsibilities for the defense of the Fatherland. In June 2023, on the basis of the 38th separate air assault brigade in Brest, the final of the republican military-patriotic games “Zarnichka” and “Zarnitsa” was held. The games gathered 140 Octobrists and pioneers from all regions of the country. In the 72nd Joint Training Center for the Training of Warrant Officers and Junior Specialists, a field training session was held for the first time for 422 students from cadet schools and the Minsk Suvorov Military School.

The National Educational and Health Center “Zubrenok” hosted a republican festival of military-patriotic camps and clubs “We have something to be proud of, we have something to protect!”

During the summer health campaign of 2023, in cooperation with military units and law enforcement agencies, 736 military-patriotic camps operated and 27 thousand children improved their health. Of these, 98 camps operated on the basis of military units with 2.8 thousand children having their best time.

Educational institutions developed a system for work on military-patriotic education of students. In this system a special role is assigned to the leader of military-patriotic education.

Currently, more than 2.2 thousand specialists work in schools, of which 380 people were hired this academic year. Among the workers, 85.2% are men. Over the past academic year, 598 specialists mastered advanced training program.

The Ministry of Defense assisted in the selection of qualified personnel for these positions. Last year, the military commissariats selected an additional 751 candidates for existing vacancies, of which 174 people were appointed to the position.

An important aspect of the formation of citizenship and patriotism among schoolchildren is the use in lessons of materials from a criminal case investigating the facts of genocide of the Belarusian people during the Great Patriotic War.

In grades 1–4, during literary reading lessons, students read texts about the events of the Great Patriotic War; the list of works for extracurricular reading includes books on military topics, for example, the book “Never Forget.”

When studying the academic subject “Human and the world. My motherland Belarus" 4th grade students learn about the events that happened in 1943 in Khatyn, about the German concentration camp for children in the village of Krasny Bereg.

The issues related to the genocide of the Belarusian people are studied systematically in the 9th and 11th grades during the history lessons of Belarus. Historical information is supplemented by the study of literary works devoted to the theme of the Great Patriotic War during lessons on the academic subjects “Belarusian Literature” and “Russian Literature” in grades 5-11.

Thus, the joint work of the Ministry of Education, teachers and law enforcement agencies will continue to be aimed at instilling in the hearts of young citizens of Belarus love for their native country and a readiness to defend its borders.