Migrant Workers Leaving Russia Because Their Children Can’t Get into Schools There, ‘To Be Precise’ Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Feb.  4 – The Two Be Precise portal which gathers statistics on key issues in the Russian Federation has not focused on the number of children who are either citizens of other countries or do not have citizenship at all. Perhaps its most important finding is that their parents who are migrant workers are leaving Russia because their children can’t get into school.

            Because Russian law now requires that foreign students pass a Russian language examination before being admitted, many children are left without the opportunity to study; and in response, their parents are going home so that their children will be able to get an education (tochno.st/materials/v-tri-raza-mense-pervoklassnikov-s-inostrannym-grazdanstvom-posli-v-skoly-v-2025-godu).

            Among the key findings that the portal gleaned from official accounts and discussing this issue with experts, some of whom preferred to remain anonymous because of the political sensitivity of this issue, the following are especially noteworthy:

·       In 2025, there were 7,000 foreigners enrolled in the first grade in Russian schools, a decline from 19,000 the year before. For all grades, the number of foreign pupils fell by 44,000 between these two years and declined the numbers of 2021.

·       In the 2025/2026 school year, 130,000 children who held foreign citizenship and another 3,000 without citizenship are studying in Russian schools in all grades. A year earlier, there were 44,000 and 1500 more for each of these groups.

·       Because of the introduction of the Russian language requirement, 60 to 80 percent of all children of migrants “cannot get into school,” one anonymous expert says. And as a result, “many migrant families with children are leaving” the Russian Federation and going home.”

·       In the current academic year, 96 percent of pupils with foreign citizenship are from countries which emerged from the disintegration of the USSR. Most are from Tajikistan (48,000), Uzbekistan (22,000) and Kyrgyzstan (19,000). Armena with 12,000 pupils in Russian schools and Azerbaijan with 8,000 complete this list.

·       Migrant children who aren’t admitted to schools in the Russian Federation have few prospects and aren’t socialized in ways that the authorities would like. At least some are becoming problems, and many require the kind of intervention they aren’t receiving.