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What happens to a class in which half of the students do not speak Russian? What will be the life of today’s children of migrants if they remain “foreigners” next to us? President Vladimir Putin spoke about this problem yesterday. What do parents, teachers and human rights activists think about her?
President Vladimir Putin proposed to monitor the number of migrant children in the country’s schools. In his opinion, schools should not be allowed to appear in Russia, where only visitors go.
“Now there are no ready-made recipes, but it is quite obvious that the number of migrant children in our schools should be such that it would allow them not formally, but in fact to deeply adapt to the Russian language environment, to the cultural [environment], so that they can immerse themselves in the system of Russian values,” Vladimir Putin said at a meeting of the Council for Interethnic Relations on March 30.
The topic of adaptation of migrants is relevant for Russia and many other countries. And if you have not yet encountered it from personal experience, let’s figure it out together what the essence of the problem is and what solutions can be.
What’s the problem?
To find out, we talked to experts and parents whose children go to Moscow schools. After all, it is in cities with a population of over a million, where most of the labor migrants traditionally aspire, that the issue is particularly acute.
Opinion of parents
Lyudmila Nazarenko: “Three years ago my son went to school, and half of the class consisted of children of migrants. We are an international family and we have never been against other peoples and cultures. And then suddenly we ran into a problem. The guys who did not speak Russian did not really study, did not understand what the teacher was saying and what other children were talking about at breaks. There was an atmosphere of alienation and hostility in the class. As a result, a group of children formed who began to behave quite aggressively with the others. Arranged fights, bullied girls. At the same time, they held each other tightly. After a few all-on-one fights, we took our son out of school and moved him to a place where there is no such problem.”
Difficulties really arise where the new inhabitants of Russia do not master its state language and live in enclaves, that is, as a “state within a state.” Language is a means of communication. The inability to understand each other and the rejection of another culture give rise to hostility. And this problem needs to be solved.
“From experience, I can say that if at least half of the children in the class do not speak Russian, then instead of their adaptation, we get a new enclave, a closed community,” says Natalia Sokolova, teacher and former deputy director of one of the Moscow schools. – Therefore, in a good way, it is necessary to evenly distribute the children of migrants across all classes. That is, to create a multicultural environment and preserve the resource for inclusion in our culture, language culture.”
“Children of migrants are a very broad concept,” says Anna Chumachenko, a teacher of Russian language and literature. – There are families in which parents have a fairly high level of education and culture. Such children tend to adapt and can even become academic leaders very quickly. And there are those whose parents are employed in low-paid jobs and do not see the value in education. Of course, you need to be accepted into regular classes on the basis of an exam in knowledge of the Russian language. But what to do with those who do not pass this exam?
Education – a right or a duty?
“The problem is not that the children of immigrants do not want to study, but that they are not taken to schools,” says teacher and human rights activist Svetlana Alekseevna Gannushkina. This is despite the fact that the right to education is guaranteed by the Constitution. In her opinion, the “filter” is the form of registration in schools – only electronic, through a personal account. As a result, some children run the risk of being left without school and without general education in principle, and without this they are more likely to join the criminal environment.
“On the other hand, if a migrant family is not interested in adapting and integrating children into the Russian environment and culture and does not seek to send them to school, teach them the language, they must be obliged to do this. The Constitution speaks not only of the right to education, but also that it is obligatory,” reminds Svetlana Gannushkina.
What to do?
Consider experience
“This problem is being successfully solved in many civilized countries,” says the human rights activist. – Programs for the adaptation and integration of children have been working both in Europe and in the USA for a long time. America is basically a country of migrants. Of course, there are excesses, as with any socially unsettled environment.
In the States, where there is extensive experience in dealing with such situations, a special course is organized to study the state language. And the child quickly becomes bilingual, even if they speak only their native language at home. Often the children of migrants study even more diligently than the locals, because they are motivated to get an education and arrange their lives. With us, the subject “Russian as a foreign language” should be mandatory for those who have not yet learned the language.”
“Both in the regions and in Moscow there is experience that should be relied upon. We can also recall the educational programs of the USSR,” says Natalya Sokolova.
Prepare teachers
“The question arises – where to get staff, because here we need a different training of teachers. Teaching Russian to those who do not speak it is a separate program. We need special people, technicians and programs for cultural adaptation.
Otherwise, in a class of 30 people, there will be gifted children who must participate in Olympiads, and children of migrants who do not speak Russian well. And one teacher for all should work with all of them.
But, in fact, it works for a certain average denominator – that is, for nothing. Because it is impossible to run at the Olympiads at the same time, to create a cultural environment for those who are still out of it, and even to work with our socially disadvantaged children, who are also important to take care of. So yes, it is important to observe the percentage of migrants. But the main question is how all this will be implemented,” explains Natalya Sokolova.
Adapt and adults
According to the teacher Anna Chumachenko, we need centers for adaptation not only for children, but also for parents. It is necessary to train teachers who can work in these centers. And that takes time and money.
Why does the problem need to be addressed?
We want our children (and ourselves) to live in a friendly and safe society. To do this, today we need to help migrant children learn the Russian language, learn Russian culture and learn to coexist with others in our large and, we recall, multinational country.
Moreover, it also corresponds to the state interests of the state. “Teaching the Russian language and culture is the most peaceful and very effective way to spread our influence in the world,” says human rights activist Svetlana Gannushkina. “That is, the education and integration of migrant children is for the benefit of Russia’s interests.”