Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law prohibiting the admission of migrant children with insufficient knowledge of the Russian language to schools. The document was published on the official legal information portal.
Vedomosti says the amendments were introduced to Russia's "Education Law" by a group of parliamentarians led by State Duma (Russia’s lower chamber of parliament) Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin and were submitted for consideration to the State Duma on November 25.
The restriction applies to public and municipal schools, special education schools for children with disabilities, vocational training schools, and extracurricular clubs and sections.
Under current law, admission to public or municipal educational institutions can only be denied if there are no available places. However, the new law expands the grounds for refusal, including the lack of documents proving a foreign citizen's legal residency in Russia and inadequate knowledge of the Russian language.
The law stipulates that children must undergo free Russian language proficiency testing at public or municipal schools before admission. If they fail, they will not be allowed to enroll in educational programs.
The law will come into effect on April 1, 2025.
