Pravda, Russia
Sept 10 2005

At Moscow schools, Russian is taught as foreign language
09/10/2005 10:52

Moscow schools have to teach cultures of various nationalities of
former USSR as schools become poly-ethnic now
Fifty per cent of pupils in Moscow’s school 987 are not Russians. The
school administration even had to introduce lessons of Russian as a
foreign language. At that, the school was given the status of an
educational institution with a Russian ethnic component. Pupils of
the school learn about native Russian holidays, they are not
permitted to speak their native languages in intervals between
lessons otherwise the school will turn into Babylon. There are
children of 45 nationalities in the school; many nationalities are
absolutely unknown to us – tsakhurs and tabasarans for example. Among
the pupils, there are also one German, a Pole and a Yugoslav.

In the first days of school studies first-formers keep together with
their national groups, but then they easily communicate with other
children in the school. It is just in middle classes that ethnic
conflicts may arise between pupils at their parents’ suggestion. But
until this age children do not care to what nationality they belong.

In 1987, ZIL automobile maker built four many-stories hostels for its
workers. The enterprise welcomed non-residents of Moscow for work and
promised that in several years they will have individual apartments.
There were many Tatars and Mordvinians working at ZIL, and the people
brought quite enough children into the world with the hope to get
bigger apartments. So, by the year of 1992 the majority of pupils at
school 987 were children from the ZIL hostels. Today, the
automobile-maker cannot afford giving apartments to those families
living in the hostels. It was decided that hostel rooms would be
property of families living there.

The school administration says there are four strong diasporas in the
school: Azerbaijanians make up 11.09 per cent of the total number of
pupils, Armenians – 5.99 per cent, Ukrainians – 5.81 and Tatars –
3.35 per cent. Yeugeny Krasenets from the Economy and Sociology
Institute states the ratio is typical of Moscow in general. Ethnic
pupils of the school are children of those who migrated to Moscow
from former Soviet republics in search of job. From eight to ten
million of people have migrated from the CIS and Baltic republics to
Russia within 1996-2005, and 50 per cent of the migrants settled in
Moscow.

In 1994, 90.5 per cent of people living in Moscow were Russians, but
the showing dropped to 84.6 per cent in 2004. The number of migrants
from Caucasus and Ukraine has increased within the ten years.

There is a poly-ethnic center at the school that allows ethnic pupils
not only study the Russian language but also learn more about their
native cultures.

In present-day conditions migrants cannot assimilate in Moscow. The
head of the Education Department decreed that Moscow schools must
accept children of any nationality, non-residents and those who are
not officially registered in Moscow. Otherwise, schools may be blamed
for violation of the constitutional rights. In the nearest tow-threes
years the authorities plan to make migration temporary: guest workers
will have an opportunity to work in Moscow for several years or
months only and then will have to go back home.

The authorities suggest that favorable conditions must be created for
life of migrants in some regions of Russia somewhere away from
Moscow. But today Moscow is in great need for man power, and the need
is increasing every year. Demographers state that able-bodied
population of Russia will drop by 2 million people by 2015. And they
add that today migrant workers are the only method to compensate the
demographic recession. The birth rate in Moscow is the lowest in
Russia: 1.09 children fall on one female Muscovite over the
reproductive period of her life. At that, children of migrants living
in Moscow are also taken into consideration as well. The share of
non-residents makes up 13.5 per cent in the total Moscow birth rate.
Every seventh baby born in Moscow is delivered by a non-resident
female.

In the nearest time, in addition to migrants from Ukraine and
Caucasus Moscow will have to receive migrants from Asian republics.
Sociologists say that Central Asia may give Russia four million of
able-bodied migrants. When the resources of the Asian republics are
exhausted, Russia and Moscow first of all will have to welcome
migrants from China.

Moskovsky Komsomolets