Penza, 28 September 2011. PenzaNews. More than 55% of schoolboys and girls of the Penza region or 5 715 persons decided to study "The fundamentals of orthodoxy" as a part of the course of world cultures in 2011–2012 academic school year.

According to the Penza diocese, last year 15% pupils of the region decided to study "The fundamentals of orthodoxy".

The course "The fundamentals of religious cultures and ethics" includes 6 modules: the fundamentals of orthodox culture, the fundamentals of Islamic culture, the fundamentals of Buddhist culture, fundamentals of Judaic culture, fundamentals of world religious cultures and fundamentals of secular ethics.

According to the press-service of the Ministry of Education of the Penza region, 26.6% of pupils chose “Fundamentals of secular ethics”, 16.5% — "Fundamentals of world religious cultures".

The press service said: "208 pupils decided to study "Fundamentals of Islamic culture" 171 of them live on the territory of Gorodishchensky area. Nobody chose "Fundamentals of Buddhist and Judaic cultures" in the Penza region".