Since September 1, new rules for enrolling migrant children in Russian schools have been in force: applicants must prove their legal status in the country and pass a mandatory Russian-language test. According to Rosobrnadzor, more than 87% of those seeking to take the test were unable to do so, mostly because of document-related issues. In St. Petersburg, Vice Governor Igor Potapenko said that of 1,500 applicants, nearly 1,000 were not admitted: some failed the exam, while others were not allowed to sit it.
The problem of refusals existed earlier as well. Back in 2015, Syrian citizen Nasser Kawthar and Uzbekistan-born Nurbek Kurbanov unsuccessfully challenged school admission rules in the Supreme Court. Rights advocates argued that the procedure allowed schools to reject children who lacked temporary registration. Even after that case, schools often continued to refuse migrant children despite their documents being in order.
After the attack on Crocus City Hall in March 2024, pressure on migrants intensified, according to Human Rights Watch experts. Against that backdrop, lawmakers proposed restricting the admission of foreign children, making schooling paid, or setting quotas for them in classrooms. In the fall of 2024, the Education Ministry sent regions recommendations to limit the number of foreign children with poor Russian proficiency.
Rights defender Valentina Chupik told the outlet Vetër that the main problem is not only the exam itself but also the registration requirement: in many cases, children do not fail the test, they are simply barred from taking it. Tatarstan became the exception, where regional authorities said 82% of children whose parents submitted papers entered school in September.
Experts also criticize the test itself. A passing score requires 90% correct answers, and a retake is possible only after three months. Tasks for middle and high school include difficult grammar and stress-placement questions that, Vetër’s sources say, even native speakers do not always answer correctly.
In response to the stricter rules, activists have begun creating volunteer projects to prepare migrant children for the exam. One organizer, a young scholar identified as Boris, says the state should invest in free adaptation centers that would help children learn the language and integrate into school life instead of creating new barriers.