From 1 September, only migrant children who have passed a Russian language proficiency test will be allowed to study in school. Admission rules may be further tightened, despite the fact that only one in three migrant children already attend schools.
Migrant children have traditionally found it difficult to enroll in school in Russia, with many not accepted because of racism, Olga Abramenko, who works at the Memorial Anti-Discrimination Centre, says, noting that human rights defenders have often had to accompany parents to school and engage with regulatory authorities to ensure that a child could attend.
Mandatory Russian language proficiency tests began appearing in schools in March with test samples available online. To enroll in the first grade, you must pass an oral assignment but to enroll in a higher grade, you must also pass a written test. The appearance of language tests sparked a discussion online with many noting that the questions are quite complex and require comprehensive understanding of grammar.
Although State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, who was among the lawmakers who backed the measure, initially said that the tests were designed so that a score of 30% was enough for pupils to enroll in school, he later noted that the passing grade was 90% or higher. In May, Volodin also said that within the first month of migrant children taking language proficiency tests, only 27 out of 1,762 were enrolled into school — appearing to present these figures as a positive result.
In online discussions, mothers of migrant children have described the testing process as unfair. According to some accounts, even children raised in Russian-speaking households have received failing grades for making as few as two errors.
Abramenko notes that unlike the rest of the world, where language tests are often done “to outline their education path”, Russia has implemented the language tests to isolate “children who are deemed unworthy of education”.
Read the full article on the Novaya Gazeta Europe