Higher School of Economics experts conducted a study of schools that have percentage of immigrant students. They studied the in-class environment, academic progress, knowledge of Russian language, and other important parameters. It turned out that the common assumption that some schools are at a disadvantage due to large immigrant student populations is often unsubstantiated.
– Oh, that school is Azerbaijani (Dagestani, Kyrgyz)... – gossip the local women. For parents looking for the best school for their child, such words often sound like a prison sentence. But the question remains: what are the reasons behind this attitude? Are there many schools in Russia, where most children are from immigrant families? And what's the situation like in classes, where these children study?
These questions are simple, and should have been answered a long time ago.
But as it turns out, this was the first serious research study on the subject. The results were recently published. Yes, they're incomplete. Unfortunately. Experts from the Higher School of Economics studied the situation in a number of regions, where they were able to get permission of the local authorities. In the end, the study includes the Moscow region, St. Petersburg/Leningrad region, Pskov, Tomsk and Tomsk region. They were not able to study the situation (supposedly it is more complex) in the city of Moscow itself.
Data collected by the researchers debunks a lot of myths that have appeared in recent years.
MYTH 1: Half of school students are “those foreigners”.
– I've heard a lot from teachers about ethnic-based conflicts and tried to find people who may have been involved, to see things with my own eyes, – says Daniil Alexandrov, one of the study's authors, head of “Sociology of Education and Science” Academic and Research Laboratory at MHSE. – For example, that there's this Azerbaijani school in the Moscow region, with almost no Russian students. We go there, and there are no Azerbaijanis at all! The teachers laugh: they've all graduated! It turns out that a long time ago, some Azerbaijanis moved to this village, and they all had kids of around the same age. And when they all went to school, some classes had an influx of Azerbaijani children. And this one wave created the impression that half the school is Azerbaijani! But this was 11 years ago! And it didn't happen in any other year. Just a regular Moscow region school. But the legend remained.
The researchers were told about similar situations in other schools, with no epithets spared. But researchers are persistent people. They went to all the schools in person. The conclusion – hearsay and reality are quite different.
– Federal Migration Services told us that there are, indeed, conflicts with immigrant students, – Alexandrov continues. – We decided to look for ourselves. Together with FMS and Education department officials, we found the statistics, went through the data with a fine-tooth comb – and we found nothing!
Even in the most likely places – Lubertsy, Mytishi, Kotelniki. Places where migrant workers tend to live. Conflicts do happen between adults. But the situation in the classrooms is fine, not strained at all. What wonder is this?
MYTH 2: There is a great cultural divide between local and immigrant children.
Researchers found that problems are most often caused by cultural, rather than national or ethnic, differences.
– Sometimes a child will lose a year or more of school because of moving, – Alexandrov states. – And you have a 19-year-old sitting in 11th grade. But his people's cultural norms demand that at that age he'd be already working. And here, he has to listen to a teacher barely older than he is!
Often, such kids quit school outright. But not because they're stupid or won't be able to graduate.
– Children from immigrant families quit school to go work at an auto-mechanic shop with their relatives, – - the researcher explains. – Or a girl may quit school, because at 16, she's supposed to already be married or stay at home and help around the house. She's ashamed of sitting in a classroom and receiving bad grades!
MYTH 3: The new students do not speak Russian.
Another reason why immigrant children aren't well-liked is they don't speak Russian. The study confirmed that for 10% of Moscow region students, Russian is a second language. But that doesn't mean they don't speak it at all!
– Russian proficiency among immigrants is very high. Especially among those from the Caucasus or Central Asia, – says Daniil Alexandrov. – 99% of those children are from former USSR territories. Their grandparents went to school, worked, and traveled all over the USSR, they speak Russian! So, there is no real language barrier. It's not like Amsterdam, where in some Moroccan families the older generations only speak their own version of Arabic!!
Besides, the children actively study Russian. And their parents support their studies.
– I asked one Azerbaijani mother: how many Azerbaijanis would you want to see at your school? - the expert recalls. –She said – the less, the better! Immigrants want to integrate, despite the fact that they try to hang on to their national identity. The children mix together because they all belong to ethnic minorities. So it's not that Azerbaijanis hang out with other Azerbaijanis, or Armenians with other Armenians. Just the opposite – Armenians and Azerbaijanis will hang out, despite the remnants of war in Nagorny Karabakh. And only when they become upperclassmen, they're surprised to find out that they “can't” be friends.
MYTH 4: They don't want to learn
Another myth debunked by the researchers was that children of immigrants do not want to study. On the contrary, immigrant children are often more motivated than the local ones!
– It's not so much because of the language as it is because of the migrant status, – thinks Daniil Alexandrov. – Students who move to Moscow from Siberia are also more motivated than children from the Moscow region, whose families have been here for three generations. It's not because local children are dumber! It's because people who move here feel that their welfare and prosperity depend directly on their own hard work.
Most of these kids will go on to university.
– They pick prestigious professions: doctors, lawyers, prosecutors, law enforcement – the researcher explains.. – These kids are in a minority, and as such they're insecure. So they purposely pick socially vital professions that will help them achieve an important place in society.
Conclusion
Of course it is impossible to conclude anything about the overall situation in the country based on one rather small research study. Six regions cannot represent the entire country. But general numbers may also not be necessary. It's improbable that the migrant problem is as much of an issue in Kamchatka as it is in Moscow. The important thing that the study did find is that our fears of immigrants are greatly exaggerated and often unsubstantiated. Even among those who should be well aware of the real situation because of their professional position.
Expert opinion.
Igor Remorenko, Moscow City Pedagogical University provost:
– Teachers today take special courses to learn how to work with immigrant children. Sometimes it's a Master's program, where they learn about culture and ethnography, or study teaching Russian as a foreign language. But Master's programs are less popular, since each teacher needs to have these skills and not all go for an additional Master's degree.
There are also professional development courses for teachers. They're not compulsory, but the school principal may send someone to take such a course if the situation calls for it – if there are many immigrant children in a class and the teacher needs additional skills to be able to work with them successfully..
Today's federal education standards and standardized tests don't take into account the immigrants' cultural and other differences. The Unified State Exam has to be passed to confirm the student's ability to excel in a higher education institution. Since Russian is the teaching language, the student has to know it well. I think that this is fair – international exams such as TOEFL (English) work the same way.
