Polish lessons instead of native language: Russian fake news about Ukrainian school

Russian propagandists forged the curriculum of a school in the Poltava region

Russian propaganda Telegram channels have recently spread a message allegedly received from one of their readers about an innovation for the tenth grades in a Ukrainian secondary education school "starting next month." A photo of the stand with the announcement of changes in the curriculum is given as evidence – the number of hours of Ukrainian language and mathematics classes is reduced by one and two hours per week respectively. At the same time, three hours of Polish language classes are introduced and the number of hours of physical education classes is increased from two to four. The announcement has the seal of the school and the signature of the principal. Commenting on the post, propagandists wrote that in this way "someone is being prepared for work in the fields."

The message is false. The number of the school is indicated as 49, and the seal shows that the school is located in the city of Lubny, Poltava region. However, there is no school No. 49 in Lubny city and the Lubny district, Lubny City Council said.

In addition, the propagandists signed the document on behalf of T. V. Kobylianska. She is indeed the principal of a Lubny school, but of the school No. 3. There is no information on the school's official website about any changes in the curriculum. The authors of the fake report also made a mistake in the name of the subject "History." It is written in Russian.

In a comment to Ukrinform, the education department of the executive committee of the Lubny City Council said that this information is false.

"It cannot be so. The curriculum is approved before the academic year begins and it is not altered after that. In addition, the curriculum must meet the state standards and it is not possible to reduce the number of hours of one or another subject. This is fake news," said Myroslav Kostenko, the head of the department of education at the Lubny City Council.

Dmytro Badrak