The State Duma adopted amendments to the law on education. Whether this will affect courses and conferences is unclear

The State Duma adopted amendments to the law on education in the third reading. Now educational activities will be regulated by federal ministries. Experts directly call it censorship. However, it is still unclear whether the new law will affect courses and conferences related to the gaming industry.The text of the adopted amendments to the Federal Law “On Education in the Russian Federation” is published on the website of the Ministry of Education and Science.

It was approved on March 16 by the votes of the United Russia party.

What exactly will the amendments affect?According to the text of the bill, an extensive list of educational and awareness-raising activities falls under the new rules.

Among them:

• development and implementation of scientific and educational programs jointly with foreign citizens;conducting joint research with foreigners;
• participation in international conferences and scientific congresses;
• sending students, teachers and researchers abroad, including exchange programs.
• Most of all, the new law may harm international cooperation in the scientific field.

However, it is important to note that now any educational activity becomes controlled by the state.

Thus, the organizers of various educational projects and conferences will need to obtain permission from federal ministries. Officials, in turn, will be able not only to issue bans, but also to impose topics of speeches and programs.

What will happen to professional courses?In theory, changes in the law may also affect educational courses, including those related to the gaming industry.

Despite the fact that this is not directly stated in the text of the bill, various professional webinars and conferences may be at risk.

In particular, this is due to the fact that such programs and events may fall under the new definition of educational activities. The law defines it as an activity aimed at “spreading knowledge, skills, values, experience and competence for the purposes of intellectual, spiritual and moral, creative, physical and (or) professional development of a person.”

Why do we need amendments from the point of view of the authorities?Officials are confident that the new law will first of all make it possible to combat foreign interference in the educational process.

According to the explanatory note, there are prerequisites for the implementation of propaganda activities in the educational sphere by “anti-Russian forces” in the country now.

The authorities also want to prohibit the use of educational activities to “incite social, racial, national or religious discord” — including through the dissemination of false information.

Expert opinions and implications for the sphereIrina Prokhorova, editor-in-chief of the publishing house “New Literary Review,” in a comment to Vedomosti called the new law “a sad attempt to control something in a completely innocent sphere.”

In her opinion, the attempt of the authorities to replace educational activities with propaganda will not lead to anything good.

At the beginning of the year, various experts demanded to abandon the adoption of the bill. In the appeal of the newspaper “Troitsky Variant” dated January 13, more than 1,700 scientists, journalists and teachers stated that they would not coordinate the texts of their speeches with the authorities.