The State Duma proposed sending children to study in another region for six months

Trips with unclear conditions and budget

My native country is wide—the State Duma suddenly realized this. And they suggested “resuming” the exchange of students between different regions of the Russian Federation. And they named the duration of such school tours – from three to six months. They plan to settle the arriving children in boarding houses and foster families. And at whose expense the banquet is not known.

Making such a proposal, Anna Skroznikova, a member of the Duma Committee on Education, linked it with a tourist exchange program between regions for schoolchildren in grades 5-9. They say that in Russia “in 2021, a program was launched to subsidize regions from the federal budget for organizing tourist trips.” Good, but not enough.

Therefore, politicians are proposing to create a pilot for the exchange of school students within Russia. “Taking into account living in host families or in boarding houses, with the opportunity to get acquainted with the culture and language of different territories of the Russian Federation,” explains the parliamentarian. A schoolboy goes to study in another region, where he settles in a family that “treats the guest as their own child.” They feed and water, put to bed…

For families, participation in the program will be voluntary. And already “during the exchange program in pilot regions, it is possible to identify shortcomings, monitor best practices and then gradually expand the geography of the project.” Then the deputy proposes to “scale up” the phenomenon throughout the country, but for now, test it in regions such as Yakutia, Kaliningrad Region, Primorsky Territory, Tatarstan and Krasnodar Territory. They say that for parents of traveling children there will be a lot of savings, and for the children themselves there will be a lot of benefits. The deputy sent a proposal outlining an exchange program within the country to the Ministry of Education.

Nothing more is known except the proposal itself. Nor, for example, how will the difference in training programs between schools be taken into account, where specialization has been introduced from grades 5-7, i.e. different lesson schedules. Neither, the most important thing is who will act as a guarantor of children’s safety, and who will finance the project.

“If there is a positive response from the participants in the pilot regions, it would be possible to provide funding for the participants’ travel to one or another territory and back, as well as for payments to the accompanying teacher, psychologist or tutor,” says Deputy Skroznikova.

Meanwhile, in the Yaroslavl region they resumed the school exchange program with China. The project was interrupted due to the pandemic, but last year a group of schoolchildren from Yaroslavl again went to the city of Jiujiang in the Middle Kingdom.

“Of course, we have to start with financing and conditions,” says education expert Anastasia Gordeeva. – Everyone involved knows that educational exchange is not a cheap business. In addition to a considerable budget, it is necessary to create a very reliable network of host families, some boarding houses or mini-hotels that are ready to participate.

MK learned about the criteria for private individuals wishing to accept children in such programs. There is also financial stability: the absence of bankruptcy, overdue loan obligations, and low-income status. No criminal record. Guarantee of comfortable and safe living conditions for the child, including a separate room, sleeping place, access to food, including special food for health reasons or halal, kosher. Assistance in studies, support and adaptation, if required. Consistent access to health care. Separate, even more stringent rules have been adopted for exchanges involving children with disabilities and developmental disabilities.

In the USSR, there were also international programs for the exchange of schoolchildren not only with socialist countries, but also with Western ones. The well-known program “Peace and Friendship” (rumor added “chewing gum”). A Western program that had no name – selected children traveled to countries in Western Europe and North America. The most widespread was the Soviet “School-Family” exchange program, which involved mainly Poland, East Germany and Czechoslovakia. Along it, not only Soviet schoolchildren traveled “there,” but also foreigners came to live and study in Soviet families.