Number of migrant children denied school admission in Russia revealed

Russian schools have refused to enroll 87 percent of migrant children, mainly due to issues with documents required to take the Russian language entrance exam, the Moscow Times reported.

The publication reported that between April and August of this year, the parents of 23,616 underage foreign children submitted applications for their children to attend school. However, only 8,223 children had complete documentation. As a result, 5,940 children took the tests, and just 2,964 passed, representing only 12.6 percent of the total applicants.

Starting April 1, 2025, Russia introduced a mandatory Russian language exam for foreign children seeking school admission. To pass, students must answer at least 90 percent of the questions correctly. The tests are designed to reflect the knowledge level of each grade. For first graders, the assessment focuses on oral speech, comprehension, and basic lexical and grammatical skills. From the second grade onward, reading and writing tasks are included. Officials say the purpose of the exam is to evaluate a child’s ability to learn Russian within the framework of the current education program.

Foreign parents wishing to enroll their children in Russian schools must also submit a series of documents. If the parent has a legal relationship with the child or the right to protect the child’s interests, enrollment is possible. Additionally, families must provide proof of their legal residence in Russia, a medical certificate confirming the absence of dangerous infectious diseases, and passports. All copies must be in Russian or accompanied by a notarized translation. Schools will reject applications if the documentation is incomplete.

In August, a draft law was submitted to the State Duma to introduce a commercial form of education for foreign children in Russian schools. Deputies also proposed limiting the number of free attempts at the Russian language exam. The explanatory note stated that the law aims to help resolve the problem of ’’900,000 insufficient school places’’. According to the authors, of more than 638,000 underage migrants living in Russia, only 181,000 are currently attending school.

In September 2024, Yaroslav Nilov, head of the State Duma committee on labor, social policy, and veterans’ affairs, drafted a bill that would abolish free preschool and school education for children of non-Russian citizens. The proposed legislation suggests amending the “on education in the Russian Federation” law, so that preschool, primary, basic, and secondary education for foreign children would be provided on a paid basis. Currently, all of these children receive education free of charge.

It is worth noting that earlier, Alexander Reut, head of the Department for State General Education Policy and Preschool Development at the Russian Ministry of Education, opposed the proposal to make school education for children of foreign labor migrants a paid service.