Public schools across Moscow have received a survey that measures their teachers’ political activity and loyalty to the authorities, the independent Dozhd broadcaster reported Sunday.
The survey asks teachers whether they participated in pro-Kremlin or opposition rallies in recent years, as well as whether they backed coups to achieve political change, Dozhd reported. The teachers are also reportedly asked whether they discuss current global and national events with their students.
Citing two unnamed teachers, the outlet said that superintendents are pressing their subordinates to take the survey authored by the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA).
“This questionnaire is one of the hottest news [items] in the professional community,” Dozhd quoted Dmitry Rogozin, principal investigator at RANEPA’s survey research methodology lab, as saying.
The Moscow Education Department said Monday that it was not involved in RANEPA’s survey, the state-run TASS news agency reported.
“The Department of Education did not send these questions to the schools,” it said, adding that RANEPA had chosen the questions and is processing results independently.
The teachers’ loyalty survey comes amid record low popularity for the ruling elites and follows survey results showing support for President Vladimir Putin dropping by half among young voters in the past year.
