Instead of a uniform – a T-shirt: how local schools met the children of Russians who “left”

Compatriots who left the Russian Federation spoke about studying abroad

Compatriots with children who left Russia in the spring and summer and enrolled their children in local schools shared their first impressions with MK (the academic year in these countries did not start on September 1, but a little later). It turned out that studying in a foreign land has both pluses and minuses.

“Any foreign child has the right to study in a Montenegrin school,” says Vadim, a Muscovite who came to the Balkans with his sons. – A residence permit is required, but if you don’t have it yet, some schools say: “You will inform later.” Education is free, textbooks are free. True, it seems that this is not practiced everywhere or only with lower grades, because I saw in a local chat how mothers of high school students sent photos of textbooks and asked where to buy them. One advised to look for used ads.

– And how is the issue of knowledge of Serbian solved?

– In the process of studying. This language is similar to Russian, so children learn it very quickly. My wife and I hired a tutor for our sons back in the summer, and by September they could more or less explain themselves, and now, when studies have begun, they speak better every day – after all, they have an environment. By the way, in Montenegro, not 11-year-old, but 12-year-old education, and the fact that you will have to sit at your desk for a year longer was an unpleasant surprise for my boys. Therefore, by the way, they are given fewer lessons, because the school curriculum is more extended. The children are happy about this, but as a father it worries me that they almost never sit at home with textbooks. They write something for 15 minutes in notebooks – and at the computer or for a walk. Compared to Moscow schools, where the workload is oh-so, very unusual.

– Are there Russian schools in Montenegro?

Yes, private. But we immediately dismissed this option. Firstly, they are paid, but now I don’t feel like spending extra money, and secondly, we think that it’s better for children to quickly join the local society.

But the mother of the second-grader Olya, who left for Georgia, told MK that they have a school in the city, in which a Russian class was specially made this year. Both Russian guys (moreover, there are only two of them in the class) and Ukrainians (there are also two of them) study there. The rest are Georgians.

– And why did Georgian schoolchildren go to the Russian class? – I ask Olya’s mother.

– These are either children from mixed families where one of the parents is Russian, or children whose parents themselves know Russian well and often visit Russia. They see the future of their children in Russia.

There are no quarrels in the international class. By the way, at the beginning of the year, all second graders were given a brand new laptop for study for free.

The mother of 9-year-old Kirill (name changed), who moved from St. Petersburg to Antalya, said that several facts shocked her at the local school.

– My son’s teacher is a man. There are many male teachers in Turkish schools, and all of them are very kind. So, every time they meet, the teacher rushes to the child and begins to hug him. At first I was even wary, and then I look – at their school all the teachers are so emotional – both men and women. For them, every student is their own. From the unusual, I will single out the complete absence of a business style in the clothes of both children and teachers. When I first saw this our teacher, I decided that it was some kind of worker: he dresses somehow quite simply. True, here we still have the heat – maybe by the winter he will flaunt in a suit? By the way, that is why local schools do not have uniforms in the usual sense. Because the “uniform” is just a certain color T-shirt with an emblem. Each school has its own. You can buy this “form” in a shop near the school, it is inexpensive. But textbooks were given to children for free.

What language is taught in public school?

– The fact of the matter is that in Turkish, it is still poorly given to children. At the same time, much attention is paid to Islam, and we are Orthodox. In paid Russian schools in Turkey, education is very expensive – 250-300 thousand a year with our money. I won’t pull it.