State Duma deputies from the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) have put forward an initiative to abolish free education for migrant children in grades 10-11 of Russian schools, according to infohub.kz.
Lawmakers propose shifting the cost of educating foreign students to their parents, with the freed-up budget funds going to support Russian high school students.
The corresponding bill has already been drafted and sent to the Russian government for review. The changes are proposed to be made to Article 78 of the law "On Education in the Russian Federation."
Free education would be preserved only in cases stipulated by Russia's international treaties or federal laws. In all other cases, the students' families would have to pay for their education.
The possible changes do not affect education in grades 1-9. Notably, the bill does not impose restrictions on obtaining secondary vocational education at colleges.
LDPR leader Leonid Slutsky explained the initiative by the need to reduce the burden on regional and municipal budgets. According to him, Russian authorities spend significant funds on educating foreign citizens, which could instead be directed to supporting local schoolchildren.
"We believe that if a migrant family chooses education in a Russian high school for their child, they should also bear the costs of that education themselves. Russian families have the right to demand that the colossal funds allocated for the education of migrant children primarily work for the education of their own children," Slutsky said.
The party believes that introducing tuition fees will allow more budget funds to be directed to supporting Russian high school students. However, the authors of the amendments have not yet named a specific cost of education for foreigners.
Under current Russian law, foreign citizens have the right to free preschool and school education on par with Russian citizens.
However, since April 1, 2025, additional requirements for admitting foreign children to schools have been in effect. Now, enrollment requires confirmation of the child's legal stay in Russia and successful completion of a Russian language test.
Schoolchildren who fail the language test are not admitted to classes.
In addition, Russia previously proposed deporting migrant families whose children do not attend school. The initiative was put forward by Valery Fadeyev, head of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights.