The project of assistance in access to education is the key to a full and happy life for children with a difficult fate.
The Civic Assistance Committee provides all necessary assistance to families of refugees and labor migrants whose children need to receive pre-school and school education in the Russian Federation.
Sofia Ismailova
ismailova@refugee.ru
Ivan Novikov
1999
The start of the admission of applicants who were unable to enroll their children in schools due to the issuing of a resolution from the mayor of Moscow not to accept children in general education institutions without a residence permit in the capital. A year later, our Committee challenged this decision in court, and children were able to start going to school whether or not they had a registration.
2014
The Ministry of Education and Learning issued Order No. 32, citing that within Moscow and some areas of the Moscow Region they would again start to restrict the admission to schools of children who do not have registration. We were forced to respond to this by creating a separate project, “Access to Education.” In 2017, under the project, we began to help Russians and foreigners with access not only to school, but also to preschool education.
2019
We managed to change the judicial practice – the exclusion of children from schools is recognized as an illegal inaction of the relevant executive authorities. Such positive court practice is now applied to Russian citizens who face with a similar problem. Now we continue to work in several areas, the most important of which is cooperation with school administrations, relevant officials and specialists.
Why is this project so important?
The importance of our committee’s assistance in the access of migrant children to education is best shown by the following numbers:
52 children went to study last year thanks to our support.
14 children entered kindergarten last year thanks to our support.
We take more than 197 new cases every school year of violations to children’s right to education.
Dozens of children are engaged in Russian and other subjects of the school curriculum with our volunteers.
It is important to note that the general accessibility of education is guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the law “On Education” and several international agreements. However, this is often ignored by the authorities, officials and heads of educational institutions.
Children of refugees and labor migrants are illegally stopped from having access to schools and kindergartens due to their lack of registration or unusual migration status in Russia with their parents. Another frequent and illegal reason for refusing admission is a lack of knowledge of the Russian language. These reasons have no legal basis, and the inability to learn is very harmful for the future of the children. Lack of access to education leads to a sharp decrease in the chances for children to have a full and prosperous life in the future.
Program work
- We strive to ensure that children can fully learn and communicate with their peers, without becoming victims of the difficult life situations in which their families find themselves in. And for this:
- We monitor violations of the rights of migrant children to access education and fight against them;
- We provide families who face a violation of their children’s right to access education with all the necessary support – we advise parents, draw up appeals to the state authorities, negotiate with representatives of schools and kindergartens, protect the right of access to education in the courts;
- We publish materials on violation of the right to children’s access to education;
- We are trying to draw attention to this problem to both the state authorities and to the public to make sure that the problem is not hidden or hushed by officials.
Program costs
While we solve the issue with access to education, we strive to help children continue study. The children can work with volunteers, and we are also looking for funds for payments for classes in paid groups.
This means that any donation you make to the program is a contribution to the future of children. Even a hundred rubles is very important.
What has already been achieved:
Overcoming bureaucracy and indifference is not an easy task, therefore, every child who has received the right to education is a great victory.
Thanks to the out-of-court support of the Committee last year, 40 children were able to go to school, which means they got the opportunity to fully learn, communicate and live. We also conducted dozens of court cases.
Every year we publish reports on children’s access to education and regularly talk about the problem in the media and our social networks. We are grateful for any support, and if you are ready to support our project, we are open for cooperation.
how can you help
If you are concerned about the topic above, now you can make a contribution to the life of the young people who have experienced a lot and are worthy of a happy childhood and future.
To do this, you can:
- provide financial support to the project – any amount is needed, and is very important;
- spread the word about the project to everyone who may be interested in the problem, and take part in its solution;
- report to the Committee about cases of violations of the rights of migrant children within education that might be known to you – not all parents know how and where to turn.
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