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- The fruits of the Ministry of Education: what will happen to the children of migrants who are not allowed to study
The fruits of the Ministry of Education: what will happen to the children of migrants who are not allowed to study
Rosobrnadzor analyzed how the new procedure for enrolling migrant children in Russian schools is being implemented, who, starting in April, must undergo preliminary testing in the Russian language. Of the 1,762 children, 81% were eliminated by the examiners at the stage of submitting documents, and of those who had already taken part in the testing, 39% failed the task. Experts emphasize that so far, based on these data, it is impossible to draw conclusions about what proportion of migrant children will not be allowed into schools at all, but they warn that this can only exacerbate the existing problem: about 300 thousand underage foreigners are already outside the educational process, although they continue to live in Russia. Izvestia figured out how to solve this problem.
How is the testing going?
Since April, Rosobrnadzor has received 1,762 applications for participation in this trial. The first monitoring showed that 81% of applicants did not even get to the testing itself — they were refused to accept the documents. The agency cites the main reasons for the refusals: the provision of an incomplete package of documents, the unreliability of information in them, as well as the lack of available places in educational institutions.
335 children of foreign citizens were admitted to the test, so far only 44 children have passed the tests. Of these, 17 (39%) failed to complete their assignments without showing the required level of proficiency in Russian.
Testing took place in 10 regions of Russia. It is indicated that for admission to the first grade, testing is conducted only orally, and reading and writing skills are checked from the second grade. To study in Russian schools, migrant children must give 90% correct answers. In the first grade, there are 10 tasks in which the child tells his age, address, describes objects and the mood of people in the picture. In grades 2-5, there are 20 tasks: the child, for example, must read aloud a text about Russia and answer several questions. There are already 22 assignments in grades 6-9, and there you will need to retell a short text according to a given plan. There are 24 assignments in grades 10-11.
At the same time, parents must prepare a number of documents confirming the legality of the representation of the child's rights, the legality of his and his parents' stay in Russia, a medical report on the absence of dangerous infectious diseases in the child, copies of documents of legal representatives. All documents must be in Russian or with a certified translation into it — they undergo mandatory verification.
You can retake the test, but not earlier than in three months, which are allocated for additional Russian language training.
What does Rosobrnadzor's data mean?
Boris Panich, director of the PSP Charitable Foundation, an interregional resource center for migration and interethnic relations, told Izvestia that the data published by Rosobrnadzor does not yet allow us to judge how migrant children will actually be tested. Nevertheless, there is still statistically insufficient information about the results of 44 children.
— The main problem faced by foreign citizens when enrolling their children in school is an incomplete package of submitted documents. Most likely, this is due to ignorance of the changes in legislation that have taken place — starting this school year, it is necessary to additionally submit documents confirming the legal status of parents to the school, the expert suggests.
According to him, most likely, in most cases, foreign citizens will simply submit the necessary documents to schools, after which their children will be sent for testing.
Vladimir Volokh, a professor at the State University of Management, also notes that the figures from Rosobrnadzor so far only indicate poor organizational work, primarily at the level of local government authorities. Boris Ilyukhin, a senior researcher at the Center for Economics of Continuing Education at the Presidential Academy, also draws attention to the fact that organizational processes take time.
"At the same time, I sincerely believe that it is necessary to change the sequence of actions — first to conduct testing and determine a list of corrective measures for those children who do not pass it, and at the same time to check documents and oblige parents to arrange everything properly," the source told Izvestia.
How many migrant children are not studying
In April, Alexey Tishchenko, a senior researcher at the Center for Economics of Continuing Education at the Presidential Academy, published a study on migrant children in Russian schools (available in Izvestia). Referring to the reports of educational organizations, he pointed out that in 2024, 179.6 thousand children of foreign citizens or stateless persons attended schools. That is, since 2021, their number has increased by about 40% — then there were 127.9 thousand people. However, the peak value was in 2023 — 181.5 thousand schoolchildren.
"It is also important to take into account children with a migration history, that is, who have already received Russian citizenship, but who remain insufficiently integrated into the Russian environment. There are no official statistics on the number of this category of children in general education institutions," the study says.
Boris Panich points out that about 210,000 migrant children study in Russian educational institutions, including kindergartens. But there should be much more.
— Statistics on how many migrant children are in the region and, consequently, how many are not covered by the education system are generally not publicly available. According to the data provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Education in mid—2024 and early 2025, there are about 760 thousand underage foreign citizens in the country," he noted.
Alexey Tishchenko's study says that, taking into account the age structure, the number of foreign citizens of school age can be up to 500 thousand people, but their coverage by general education organizations is only 35.9%.
"The introduction of a ban on the admission of foreign children to school without knowledge of the Russian language <...> dramatically reduces the chances of socialization and integration into Russian society of about 300 thousand children living in Russia. In case of obtaining Russian citizenship (together with parents) They will be able to enroll in schools on a general basis, while long periods of absence will complicate their studies. In this regard, it is advisable to increase the accessibility of learning Russian as a foreign language for children from migrant families living in Russia," the author of the study believes.
Boris Panich emphasizes that the logic of changes in legislation governing the admission of migrant children to schools is clear. But nevertheless, questions arise.
— According to many experts and practitioners who teach Russian to migrant children, if the requirements of the test for grades 1-2 are realistic, then it will be very, very difficult to enter the senior classes, - said the interlocutor of Izvestia.
But an even more important question is what to do with children who fail the test, he says.
What will happen to the children who will not be accepted to school
Boris Panich notes that the order of the Ministry of Education on the approval of the testing procedure says: "It is proposed to take additional Russian language training." Retesting is possible in three months.
— At the same time, at the moment no mechanisms have been created for this "additional training", and according to experts, there is a high probability that these will be paid courses. In fact, this means that a significant number of migrant children will be left out of the education system," the expert believes.
Olga Korovina, PhD, Scientific director of the Agency for Support of State Initiatives, notes that back in 2023-2024, a number of regions began to practice testing and document verification for migrant children. The federal basis was most often the point about the need to confirm proficiency in the Russian language or submit documents on equivalent education.
"In practice, in some regions, separate classes or courses are being created at schools for children who do not speak Russian at a sufficient level, the so—called adaptation classes," she told Izvestia. — But these programs are not uniformly fixed at the federal level and directly depend on the capabilities and initiatives of local authorities. There is no official comprehensive plan at the federal level, and if the regional education system does not offer any adaptation mechanisms, children are often left out of school.
An alternative for parents may be private educational organizations, embassy schools, if any, or NGOs and charitable foundations that deal with the education and language adaptation of migrant children. But their resources are very limited, says Olga Korovina.
She notes that experts, including representatives of the Human Rights Council, have already pointed out this problem: if the State does not take additional measures, social tensions may increase, since children who find themselves outside the education system pose a risk group in terms of antisocial behavior and further marginalization. According to her, this can directly affect social stability in the regions. There will be both legal and humanitarian risks.: According to Russian laws and in connection with international obligations, Russia must ensure access to education for all children on its territory.
— Today, state regulation of this situation is required. Children need to be involved in Russian culture, included in social connections, expand social contacts, that is, integrate into Russian society," Oleg Fedorov, professor at the HSE Institute of Education, also told Izvestia. — There are also pedagogical problems — teachers often do not know how to teach foreign speakers.
Boris Panich believes that some of these children may return to their homeland. But many will stay in Russia: they will help their parents at work, in raising younger children, and maybe just stay at home or on the street.
"It is important that they will not be covered by the mechanisms of linguistic and socio—cultural adaptation, with all the risks that follow from this," he stressed. — And educational institutions are an ideal place for such adaptation.
The expert believes that free courses for children with insufficient knowledge of the Russian language could help, which would help them pass the test and then study at school. Everyone will benefit from this, Boris Panich is sure.
"Even if such children return to their homeland after graduation, they will still be the guides of the Russian language and culture in their countries," he stressed.
Boris Ilyukhin believes that the creation of special language courses could be financed with funds from the purchase of patents by migrants.
Vladimir Volokh recalls that the Federal Agency for Nationalities Affairs is currently implementing a pilot project to create adaptation centers in five regions of Russia. They also offer a monthly free course for migrants. Methodological recommendations on the organization of socio-cultural adaptation of foreign citizens have been sent to other subjects of the Russian Federation. The work on adaptation also includes passing the exam in the Russian language by migrant children, the expert noted.
At the time of publication, the Ministry of Education and the Federal Agency for Nationalities had not responded to Izvestia's inquiries about working with children who were not allowed to study in Russian schools.
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