Migrant children who do not speak Russian were offered to be sent to special classes

State Duma deputies came up with radical measures to solve the “migrant issue” in schools. They proposed to arrange Russian language testing and an interview for the children of migrant workers. Those who fail the test should be sent to separate classes or “passed” through adaptation centers. These ideas were criticized by the teachers’ union, calling them discriminatory.

Let us remind you: recognizing that “socializing the children of migrants living in our country is important for the development of a healthy society,” the deputies called for eliminating the situation when “preschoolers do not know the Russian language.” That is, we are talking about kindergartens. But then only an interview, because preschool children do not know written Russian even in indigenous families.

However, “children from a migrant family” who were unable to pass the test at school are also mentioned. They say that if such a child does not know the language in which he is studying, this leads “not only to lag, but also to conflicts.” As a countermeasure, “he should be sent to study the Russian language and Russian culture in a specialized adaptation center or adaptation class.”

The following solution is also proposed: “the introduction of preparatory courses in the study of the Russian language, national history and Russian national traditions for migrant children.” And those offspring of guest workers who “failed to cope with the pre-school program” should not be accepted into schools.

Of course, the problem with foreign speakers, as teachers call students who do not speak Russian, is very acute in many large cities of the Russian Federation. Even one or two children in a class who do not understand the language is a scourge for the teacher. And yet, having heard the people’s representatives, the teachers’ union was the first to protest.

The head of the trade union, Olga Miryasova, called the proposals of the deputies “discriminatory.” She notes that in schools where many children do not speak Russian, “it would be nice if there was a teacher who studied teaching Russian as a foreign language – this is a separate specialty at the university.” In addition, additional classes are needed for such children. And classes are hours of work for the teacher and additional funding must be allocated for them.

It turns out that all parties have already listed the problems that their attempts to solve are facing. There are no specialist teachers (in principle there are not enough teachers). And especially those who know two languages, studied not only developmental and pedagogical psychology, but also adaptive psychology. This is indirectly confirmed by the attempt to create a migrant class in Volgograd, the teacher of which left after a year of work. It is almost impossible to teach an entire class of non-Russian-speaking children from a different culture, sometimes of different ages, without special training.

Adaptation centers for migrant children are a project that is still far from being implemented. Where will they be, these centers – at schools, at embassies, at migration MFCs, who will teach there, with what funds?.. It’s strange to send people to these “socialization centers” that are not even on paper yet, actually existing and already attending schools children.

“I am also, of course, in favor of thinking through a solution to the problem, discussing it with experts, with schools, and then saying or implementing something,” says social psychologist Valery Raushinsky. — There are a bunch of problems around this topic. Here’s a teacher telling me, she has a foreign language girl in the first grade, the child is 10 years old. What parents did before, why they didn’t teach, is unknown. The parents are simple workers and do not understand Russian well. The child not only does not study and does not want to, but also behaves terribly in class…

There are other examples when parents really want and try, but there is no money for a tutor. And the school, to be honest, is not designed to teach Russian as a foreign language; the teacher has no competencies. Sometimes even desires. If for inclusive children, at the very least, there are tutors and social psychologists, then for foreigners there is no one.

As for the “normal migration policy,” it’s time to think about why our temporary workers move in with their families at all. Essentially, these are shift workers – have you seen a “shift” with a wife and children? But if the state considers such “entries” acceptable, if this is part of the same demographic strategy, then the state must provide conditions for this.