Resolutions of the Conference on Orthodox Culture in the Secular School held during 11th International Christmas Readings

RESOLUTIONS OF THE CONFERENCE ON ORTHODOX CULTURE IN THE SECULAR SCHOOL HELD DURING 11TH INTERNATIONAL CHRISTMAS READINGS

We, participants in the Conference on Orthodox Culture in the Secular School, which took place during the 11^th International Christmas Readings, believe it is necessary to unite our efforts in the work to revive, study and develop Orthodox culture in Russian society. In order to make the practice of studying Orthodox culture in the secular school more wide-spread and successful, we believe it is necessary to establish a unified administrative system which will ensure the organizational, academic and technical support of this practice in the education system.

On the organizational level, this system includes a Coordinating Council for cooperation between the Russian Federation Ministry of Education and the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, coordinating public bodies in the Russian Federation regions, and public trustee boards for studying Orthodox culture under the municipal administrative bodies.

One of the urgent tasks is to set up a Research Methodological Council for studying Orthodox culture in the education system, which will contribute to an effective solution of the problem of supporting the educational process as to its contents, methodology and material and technical basis.

The Russian Federation Ministry of Education should be asked to set up within the Federal Expert Council a department for examination of the educational literature for the purpose of identifying spiritual and ethical distortions and inconsistencies with traditional Orthodox values and ideals.

On the level of the contents of education, we believe it is necessary:

To develop in the nearest future new educational aids on Orthodox culture meeting the requirements of the secular nature of education in federal and municipal schools;

To appeal to the Coordinating Council for Cooperation between the Ministry of Education and the Moscow Patriarchate to consider this matter.

We believe it important to support the work of all the federal, municipal and non-governmental educational institutions and scientific centers developing the practice of Orthodox cultural studies.

We believe it essential to recommend to the Moscow Patriarchate and the Ministry of Education to begin as soon as possible the joint work to develop a concept of religious education in Russia applicable to all levels or steps in education and embracing not only the general and higher education school, but also the army, prisons, etc.

It is also appropriate, in our view, to pose the question of bringing the laws of the Russian Federation in correspondence with the Russian Federation Constitution by introducing the following amendments:

1. to the Preamble of the Federal Law on the Freedom of Conscience and on Religious Association: “…recognizing the Orthodox values as Russia’s national values…”;
2. to Article 2 of the Federal Law on Education: “Protection and development of Orthodox values, national cultures… by the education system” as Article 29 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child requires: the child should be educated “in respect for the parents of the child and his cultural identity, language and values, for the national values of the country in which the child lives”.