MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia is to start compulsory anti-doping classes in schools as part of a campaign to stamp out cheating in sport, authorities announced Monday.

With the country furiously lobbying to overcome a ban on its athletes in time for the Rio Olympics, the lessons will be part of new measures, drawn up with the Council of Europe, “to reform social attitudes to doping”, the sports ministry said in a statement.

Russia has been hit by a series of doping scandals, still under investigation, that led the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) to suspend Russia from international competition.

“Lessons on anti-doping will be rolled out as part of the curriculum in schools across the country,” the sports ministry said.

“The classes on anti-doping will be taught as part of physical education classes, and will be obligatory for all children, meaning that it will reach millions of students across Russia.”

The ministry said that before the lessons start, there will be anti-doping classes for “all higher education institutions for professionals in the fields of sport and medicine”.

This will be followed by “additional training for doctors and medical personnel, coaches and employees of sport federations”.

Russia’s anti-doping agency RUSADA will develop a special curriculum, based on World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) guidelines, for the 3,000 sports schools where the country’s elite athletes train.

“We recognise that to create real change we must inform athletes from the very beginning of their careers,” said Natalya Zhelanova, advisor to Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko on anti-doping issues.

“It is about instilling the right values from the outset, but we hope this initiative will be supported by wider society as this is a change that all Russians must embrace,” the statement quoted her as saying.

With Russia’s presence in the Olympic track and field at stake, the IAAF is to meet on June 17 to decide whether to reinstate the Russian federation.

The federation was provisionally suspended in November after a WADA independent commission that found evidence of state-sponsored doping and mass corruption in Russian athletics.

Mutko said last month that Russia would not include athletes who in the past had committed “gross violations of anti-doping rules” on its Olympic team.