‘Lawmakers are acting like gangsters’ Starting next year, migrant children who don’t speak sufficient Russian will be barred from attending Russian schools

On December 11, 2024, Russia’s State Duma approved a law in its third reading that bars migrant children from enrolling in school unless they pass a Russian language proficiency test. The law takes effect on April 1, 2025, with the new rules applying to admissions for the 2025–2026 academic year starting in September.

Children who fail the test will not be permitted to attend school. The exam will be free, and the Russian Education Ministry will determine the testing procedures.

Schools will also be required to verify that a child is legally present in Russia as part of the admissions process. Children whose parents are in the country illegally will be denied enrollment.

State Duma Deputy Speaker Irina Yarovaya, who sponsored the bill, said the law would “protect Russian citizens’ right to education while ensuring its accessibility and quality.” She stated that parents of children who fail the language test can reapply once their child improves their proficiency, adding that there will be no limit on the number of attempts.

Meanwhile, the Russian Education Ministry has proposed holding migrant parents liable if their child does not enroll in supplementary Russian language courses after failing the test. Under the draft regulations, children who fail the exam would be required to complete a three-month remedial program at their parents’ expense. If a child is not enrolled in such a program within a month, child welfare authorities would inspect the family’s living conditions and notify law enforcement.

No, some lawmakers raised concerns.

Tatiana Larionova, a member of the State Duma Committee on Family Protection, Fatherhood, Motherhood, and Childhood, asked Irina Yarovaya:

In response, Yarovaya said that labor migrants are under no obligation to bring their underage children to Russia.

One of the bill’s sponsors, Yaroslav Nilov, head of the Committee on Social Policy and Veterans’ Affairs, said the law’s main goal is to prevent children who don’t speak Russian from attending Russian schools. “The presence of students who don’t know the language makes it harder for our own, Russian children to learn. We must prioritize them. If you’re ready to study, take the test and enroll,” Nilov said.

It’s difficult to determine exact numbers.

Russia doesn’t have precise data on the number of migrant children in its schools. However, Education Ministry figures from 2023 show that 178,000 students with foreign or no citizenship were enrolled. Nearly half were in elementary school, 39 percent were in grades 5–8, and 11 percent in grades 9–11.

In 2024, 58 percent of migrant children successfully passed Russian language proficiency tests. Of those tested, 18 percent had little or no knowledge of the language. A sociological study by the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) found that 53 percent of teachers reported language difficulties among migrant students, while 49.5 percent said these children also struggled with general subjects.

Anna Orlova, coordinator of the Migratory Children project, said that relatively few non-Russian-speaking students enter Russian schools: “Children who start with poor language skills usually pick up the basics fairly quickly — within about six months. After two years, they may no longer even have an accent.”

Khursheda Khamrakulova, head of the Tajik Cultural Center Council, also noted that young migrant children tend to adapt quickly if they start school in first or second grade with limited Russian. “Difficulties arise when a child has no knowledge of the language and enters in eighth or ninth grade. The older they are, the harder it is to learn,” she said.

It’s unclear. However, some public figures have called the law a “populist response to strong anti-migrant sentiment.”

Elena Alshanskaya, head of the Volunteers Helping Orphans Foundation, noted that lawmakers have stripped many children already living in Russia of both their right to education and the chance to adapt socially to Russian culture. Irina Abankina, director of the Institute for Education Development at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics (HSE), echoed this concern:

For this reason, Alshanskaya dismissed proposals to hire tutors or enroll these children in private language schools as absurd, noting that many foreign families in Russia simply cannot afford such options. She believes the law will result in a rise in juvenile crime, greater risks to children’s safety, and an increase in underground radical religious schools.

Anthropologist and social researcher Daniel Kashnitsky disagrees with Alshanskaya’s assertations, arguing that it is ethically wrong to assume foreign children will turn to crime before they’ve done anything wrong. “Essentially, lawmakers are acting in an unscientific and even gangster-like manner, yet, for some reason, it’s migrant children we’re afraid of. Doesn’t that seem like an obvious ethical contradiction?” he asked.

They certainly had other options.

Elena Alshanskaya noted that some teachers have already taken the initiative to set up preparatory classes for children who don’t speak Russian. However, organizers of these programs point out that Russia has a severe shortage of teachers trained in Russian as a foreign language. Alshanskaya believes that training such educators should be a higher priority.

She also suggested establishing preparatory classes and Russian language schools for both children and adults in the countries that send the most migrants to Russia. Within Russia, she proposed opening Russian language clubs “at least in one school in every district where foreign nationals settle.”

Irina Abankina also believes there are many ways to address the issue without resorting to a ban. She points to adaptation programs within schools, individualized learning plans, and supplementary education programs:

In 2023, a directive from Russia’s Education Ministry allowed schools to provide additional Russian language instruction for students with little or no proficiency. Before launching such courses, schools must conduct assessments to determine students’ language levels — a process that each school is responsible for setting.

In November 2024, Education Minister Sergey Kravtsov stated that the government was working on creating Russian language learning centers for foreign children at teacher training universities. However, Anna Orlova noted that it’s still unclear how these programs would be structured.

According to Sofia Ismailova, coordinator of the Access to Education project at the Civic Assistance Committee, Russia currently has no state program for integrating foreign children — nor does it have a structured Russian language curriculum for them. Ismailova emphasized the importance of creating adaptation classes where children can study Russian as a foreign language while simultaneously learning school subjects.

In most European countries, foreign children have the right to attend public schools even if they do not speak the local language. In some places, they are even required to do so.

For example, in the Netherlands, all children aged 5 to 16 have the right to attend school and must receive an education, regardless of whether they speak Dutch. This applies to refugee children as well. The Netherlands has a high level of migration, with around 15 percent of its population born abroad.

A similar system exists in Canada and the United States. In Canada, many schools offer English as a Second Language (ESL) and French as a Second Language (FSL) programs for students of all ages. These courses help non-native speakers develop their reading, writing, and speaking skills.