Russia to pay $120,000 for methodology to test students for "traditional values"

One of Russia's leading universities, the Higher School of Economics (HSE), has won a tender for 10 million rubles ($120,000) to develop a methodology for monitoring students' attitudes toward "traditional spiritual and moral values." This was reported by the Russian newspaper Vedomosti.

The terms of reference note that Russia does not yet have a systematic approach to measuring the level of acceptance of "traditional values" by young people and tools to identify the risks of "destructive behavior" by students.

The new methodology is supposed to fill this gap and, as they say, "strengthen the spiritual and moral foundation of society."

Researchers should also clarify the very concept of "traditional values" based on the decree Vladimir Putin the aim is to find specific examples and criteria that can be conveyed to young people, and to check how effective the measures taken by universities to "educate traditional values" are.

Putin's decree includes the following as "traditional values": life, dignity, human rights and freedoms, patriotism, service to the Fatherland, family, labor, spirituality, charity, collectivism, historical memory, and "unity of the peoples of Russia."

The project will be implemented in two stages: the first will be completed by September 22, and the second by November 22. The customer was the Russian University of Sport, but the methodology is planned to be extended to all universities in the future.

In addition, starting in 2026, Russia will annually monitor "spiritual and moral education."

• On July 16, it was reported that the Higher School of Economics (HSE) would start operating a master's program that teaches how to circumvent international sanctions.