Wake-up call: thousands of migrants refused to take their children to school
Rosobrnadzor summed up the results of the campaign to enroll migrant children in Russian schools. Applications were submitted for 23.6 thousand children, but only about 3 thousand were enrolled. But this is only half the trouble: experts are sure that tens or even hundreds of thousands of underage foreigners do not reach school at all. Additional Russian language courses for migrant children have been introduced in Russia, but the actual fate of these children is still unclear. Izvestia dealt with the problem.
How many children failed the test
According to Rosobrnadzor, in April–August, 23,616 foreign children applied to schools. Only 8,223 children were allowed to be tested, while an incomplete set of documents was submitted for the rest.
Even fewer were tested — only 5,940 children. Rosobrnadzor has not yet been able to explain why the remaining 2.3 thousand children from those who were admitted were not included in the statistics. Only 2,964 schoolchildren successfully passed the Russian language tests, which is only 50% of those who passed the entrance test, or 12.6% of the total number of children for whom documents were submitted.
Recall that in order to study in Russian schools in 2025, migrant children had to give 90% correct answers in the test, which had from 10 to 24 tasks, depending on the class.
If a child fails the test, he can retake it three months later, Rosobrnadzor told Izvestia.
How many migrant children have been left out of the education system
Thus, 20,652 children from migrant families were excluded from the educational process, despite the fact that primary, basic and secondary general education is compulsory in Russia.
Professor of the Department of Public Administration and Political Technologies at the State University of Management (GUU), Doctor of Political Sciences Vladimir Volokh points to Article 43 of the Constitution, which states that everyone has the right to education, and children are not divided into foreign and Russian.
"Since most children were not allowed to take the tests due to the lack of necessary documents, the problem needs to be solved at the local government level," Vladimir Volokh believes.
However, there are many more migrant children who do not attend school at all. According to the Ministry of Education last year, 179.6 thousand foreign children study in Russian schools, although the total number of foreign minors, according to the Russian Interior Ministry, is about 638 thousand people. According to experts, there should be about 400 thousand students among them.
Candidate of Economic Sciences, leading researcher at the Central Research Institute of the Institute of Economics and Economics of the Presidential Academy Alexey Tishchenko notes that many migrant parents, judging by the statistics provided, simply decided not to send their children to Russian language testing for admission to school.
— I believe that some parents were alerted by the information about possible administrative liability if they do not send their child to additional education after an unreleased test, — he told Izvestia.
Olga Korovina, PhD, Scientific director of the Agency for Support of State Initiatives, points out that the number of 23,616 applications records only the number of families who decided to go through a formalized application procedure.
— About half of migrant children are not enrolled in school at all, which means that many parents do not attempt to apply, either because of a lack of information about the rules, bureaucratic and language barriers, or because they deliberately avoid it when the family is planning a short-term stay and does not see the point in integrating. into the education system," she told Izvestia.
Boris Panich, director of the PSP Charitable Foundation, an interregional resource center for migration and interethnic relations, recalled that legislative changes should improve the exchange of information between educational institutions and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. This was confirmed to Izvestia by the Ministry of Education: regional education authorities provide information on the results of testing to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.
— Law enforcement practice will show what will happen next and whether it will be considered an administrative offense if a migrant child does not attend school. Perhaps, if there are a certain number of administrative offenses, this will be one of the grounds for expelling parents and, accordingly, their children from Russia. But it is not yet known whether this approach will be applied, — says the interlocutor of Izvestia.
How difficult is it for foreigners to get into a Russian school
Testing applies to children of any nationality and becomes a serious obstacle for any foreign families who decide to move to Russia. One of the real cases is told by the CEO of the Legality legal service, Elena Trainis. A family from Lithuania applied to the company. Thomas arrived with his wife and ten-year-old daughter, and issued a residence permit. Russian Russian is the family's ancestor, everyone in the family speaks Russian, and the girl is fluent in reading, writing, and speaking two languages: Russian and Lithuanian. In Moscow, she is engaged in figure skating. Since the beginning of July, parents have repeatedly tried to apply for a child's placement in school, but each time something was missing.
— We went to the MFC at least six times, but no one there could say exactly which documents needed to be attached for a positive recording result. Only the parents' appeal to the Moscow City Department of Education made it possible to find out," Elena Treinis tells Izvestia.
On August 13, the fifth grade application was finally accepted, and on August 29, the test date became known: September 3. The parents trained the girl, invited a tutor, but they failed to get a positive assessment (this, we recall, is 90% of the correct answers). A Russian-speaking child was not allowed to go to school.
You can now submit a new application only three months after the failed test. Now the parents have written another appeal to the department. Izvestia also sent a request on this matter to the Department of Education and Science of the city of Moscow.
Irina Belousova, head of the Equally Different program, told Izvestia that migrant families always place high hopes on school as an institution of socialization and mastery of the Russian language. However, now many people refuse to send their children to schools, because they understand that they will not be able to pass the entrance test yet, they must first improve their language proficiency.
— The set bar is very high. Imagine a child of 6-7 years old, a future first—grader, who went to take a test: he was taken to an office with unfamiliar adults, sat in front of a camera, put on headphones and asked to answer questions in a language not native to him," Irina Belousova explained.
If he does not pass the test, the next chance will be only in the fall or winter, and while he is preparing, he will miss an important part of the first grade program, the expert notes.
Boris Panich notes that if more children enter primary school based on the results of testing, then it is "almost impossible" to enter senior classes. He calls for relaxing test requirements, especially for potential high school students.
And Alexey Tishchenko adds that against this background, children from families who have already received Russian citizenship are free to enter schools, even if they do not know the language at a sufficient level: there are no restrictions for them. They also do not take language tests for minors when issuing Russian documents. Moreover, children who are not currently enrolled in schools will be able to enroll there on a general basis after obtaining citizenship, the expert clarifies.
Are children being helped now
Russian russians According to the Equally Different program, parents of children who have failed the Russian language test are now receiving emails instructing them to take Russian language courses and prepare for retake.
— We hope that in the near future, lists of available or free resources where such courses can be completed will also be added to these letters. We also hope that in addition to the demo version of testing, the FIPI Institute will develop training and preparatory materials, "Equally different" added in the project.
The Ministry of Education explained to Izvestia that if the test is not passed the first time, parents will be offered to enroll their child in additional Russian language training programs or to study with him independently. The Ministry of Education's website has a list of 596 educational institutions open in all 89 regions of the country where additional training is available. You can also ask questions to the hotline regarding the testing of children of foreign citizens. She works from 9:00 to 18:00 Moscow time by phone: +7 (495) 587-01-10, ext. 3291. Applications are also accepted by e-mail: kiseleva-is@edu.gov.ru .
Experts believe that a full-fledged system has not yet been built. Olga Korovina emphasizes that there is no clear mechanism that would allow such children to be redirected to adaptation classes, preparatory Russian language courses or alternative forms of education.
— In my opinion, it is right to limit the admission of children to school if they do not know Russian well, but it is necessary to give them the opportunity to improve their knowledge on a free basis, — says Boris Panich. Russian russians, as the host country, are interested in children learning the Russian language and Russian culture. School is an ideal place for social and cultural adaptation.
The expert emphasizes that even if these migrant children then leave for their homeland, this is an opportunity for Russia to reach a growing number of people in Central Asia, where the level of Russian language proficiency is now catastrophically declining.
Vladimir Volokh is confident that full-fledged adaptation programs should be developed. According to him, these issues are already being dealt with in the Federal Agency for Nationalities and in a number of subjects of the Russian Federation.
Izvestia sent a request to the FADN.
What are migrant children who do not attend schools doing?
Olga Korovina emphasizes that forming a group of children who can stay out of school for years is fraught with a number of unpleasant consequences. They are deprived of basic knowledge and find themselves outside the familiar environment of socialization, which leads to alienation and conflicts with society.
— The lack of institutional education increases the risks of early involvement in illegal labor or antisocial practices. The state risks losing an entire generation of young people, and this is already a strategic threat. This is an actual loss of control over a large segment of the population, which can lead to the formation of closed ethnic or migrant communities, and in the long run, to an increase in crime and extremism," she said.
Experts note that now some migrant families organize at least minimal home schooling on their own, but some of the children are actually left to themselves: someone is engaged in household chores and the upbringing of younger children. But older teenagers are often involved in illegal labor, helping their parents on construction sites, in trade or in the service sector, says Olga Korovina.
— In the long term, this creates the risk of forming a "lost generation" — teenagers who are not integrated into Russian society, who do not speak the language and do not have professional skills. And if today the problem is perceived as statistics, then tomorrow it may become a challenge for the economy, social sphere and security of the country," Olga Korovina emphasized.
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