One of the two subjects has received considerable media attention. It is optional health education, which will also replace the optional subject Education for Family Life.
Health education will be added to the timetable for grades IV–VIII and for secondary schools: general secondary schools, technical secondary schools and stage-one vocational schools.
The main aim of the subject health education will be to develop students’ competences related to lifelong care for their health and to build the health potential of individuals and their surroundings. Detailed requirements concerning knowledge and skills have been included in 11 thematic sections:
- Values and attitudes
- Physical health
- Physical activity
- Nutrition
- Mental health
- Social health
- Adolescence (only in primary schools)
- Sexual health
- Environmental health
- The internet and addiction prevention
- The healthcare system (only in secondary schools).
The second subject received less commentary. It is civic education. The focus of this subject will be preparing students for conscious and responsible civic engagement in a democratic society. The subject is intended to build and strengthen patriotic attitudes based, importantly, on a sense of identity and pride in belonging to the community, concern for one’s local and wider homeland, and a sense of responsibility for shaping it. Most importantly, the subject is intended to foster openness and respect toward others, empathy and solidarity with others, and engagement for the common good.