Vitebsk region initiates the return of the subject of life safety to schools

March 22, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. The Education Department of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee and the Vitebsk Regional Department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations are initiating the return of the "Fundamentals of Safe Living" (OSZh) course to the mandatory school curriculum. This was announced today at a joint briefing by the head of the Vitebsk MES Department, Vasily Chekan, and the first deputy head of the Education Department, Leonid Stepanov, as reported by a BELTA correspondent. Currently, there is an elective course "Fundamentals of Safe Living" in schools, but children's knowledge is not assessed, which reduces responsibility when studying this subject, believes Leonid Stepanov. As a rule, electives in schools are taught by teachers who do not specialize in this subject, and teaching is limited to theoretical knowledge without practical application. "At the same time, introducing the course into the mandatory school curriculum would improve students' knowledge of the most important thing - their own lives," he is confident. Programs for the OSZh course have been developed in schools, and textbooks are available for grades 1 to 11. According to Leonid Stepanov, Vitebsk State University is ready to retrain teachers in OSZh. Head of the MES Department Vasily Chekan is also confident in the need to restore the OSZh subject in general education institutions. According to him, a test of students conducted in one of the schools in the region showed that high school students do not have sufficient theoretical knowledge of the fundamentals of safe living (practical knowledge was not assessed). According to Vasily Chekan, if the OSZh course is introduced into the mandatory program, MES employees are ready to provide practical assistance to teachers in educating children. The initiative of the two departments will be sent to the Ministry of Education in the near future. -0-