Past the school

On September 1, not all children living in Russia will be able to go to study. Some metropolitan schools, for example, do not take students without Moscow registration, and foreign citizens are asked even more documents - a temporary residence permit or a residence permit. But in a neighboring educational institution, these papers may not even ask, since such requirements violate the Russian Constitution and the Federal Law "On Education". The Department of Education of the capital understands this, but they are in no hurry to abandon their position.

August 28. A meeting in the Moscow City Court. The plaintiff is a young woman Irina Kovan , a citizen of Ukraine, a mother of two children. For a year, she has been suing the Department of Education and school No. 2065 due to the fact that her child cannot attend lessons. The school refused to accept Arseny to first grade, referring to the fact that the parents provided an incomplete package of documents. Although three years ago, Irina without problems arranged her eldest daughter to the same school.

- We came to Moscow from Odessa in the summer of 2014 to work. It was a planned move, but many perceived us as refugees, ”recalls Irina Kovan. - Almost immediately they found housing, temporary work. The eldest daughter, Yaroslav was sent to school in the Ramensky district. Then they moved to the city of Moscow in New Moscow, Yaroslav was transferred to school No. 2065 (in November 2016, the school was assigned No. 2120. - RS) . There were no problems in the device, although then we still did not have a patent for work and even registration in Moscow. In June 2016, when Yura (Irina's husband. - RS) came to give Arseny to first grade, they refused to accept documents from him.

Arseny Kovan. Photography provided by his parents

In the educational part, Yuri was said that for the registration of a child, he should provide a temporary residence permit or residence permit. Kovpan asked the school principal Natalia Faydyuk in writing to draw up a refusal to receive documents. Faydyuk did not do this, adding that the school will accept the child if the parents collect all the necessary documents.

Yuri could not understand the requirements of school employees. Indeed, according to the Federal Law "On Education", "in admission to the state or municipal educational organization, it can be denied only because of the lack of free places in it." The need to provide documents confirming the registration or legitimacy of stay in the country is not prescribed in the law. The right to public education is also enshrined in the 43rd article of the Constitution of Russia. Yuri complained about the school’s actions in the Moscow Education Department.

Kovpan sent a complaint to the district prosecutor's office, from where the answer came that the actions of the school were illegal

From there, the appeal was redirected back to school itself. The director sent a response in which she referred to part 9 of order No. 32 of the Ministry of Education and Science "On approval of the procedure for admitting citizens to study in educational programs ...", and insisted on the need to provide a document confirming the right of a foreign citizen and his child to stay in the Russian Federation. Then Kovpan sent a complaint to the district prosecutor's office, from where December 8, 2016 the answer came that school actions were illegal.

The ministerial order No. 32, published in January 2014, regulates the procedure for admitting citizens for training. His norms, in particular, are given to students registered at the place of residence near the school, priority when recording an educational institution. But from July 1, the reception is carried out for all on equal terms.

According to the text of the order, “the reception of citizens in the LLC (organization carrying out educational activities. - RS) is carried out on the personal application of the parent (legal representative) of the child upon presentation of the original document certifying the identity of the parent (legal representative), or the original document certifying the identity of a foreign citizen and stateless person”. Below it is said that Russian citizens can additionally present a birth certificate or registration of a child at the place of residence and place of stay. Foreign citizens additionally provide a document confirming the applicant's right to stay in the Russian Federation.

In practice, "additional" is interpreted as "necessarily"

The decision of the Supreme Court of August 27, 2015 confirms the additional nature of the requirement: the absence of documents listed in paragraph 9 "cannot be the basis for refusing to admit the child to the educational organization if there are free places in it."

Nevertheless, in practice, “additionally” is interpreted as “necessarily”, and many metropolitan schools require Moscow registration. And if it is not, employees of educational institutions categorically do not want to draw up a written refusal indicating the reason. The spouses Kovpan returned to school in August, they accepted the statement, but a week later the answer came that the places in the classes had already ended. Although they approve with reference to the school website that there were still places in the first class in the first grade. Irina sued the school and the Department of Education, accusing the former of illegally refusal to accept the child, the second - of inaction. In April 2017, the case was considered in the Meshchansky District Court. Irina refused a complaint. She appealed.

The appeal was oral, but the documents simply did not take, they did not want to write anything

When revising the case, the judge repeated several times: in order to prove your appeal to the school in June, you need to present your written application or a written refusal of an educational institution to accept documents from you. Irina is trying to explain: "The appeal was oral, but the documents simply did not take, they didn’t want to write anything. We immediately complained to the Department of Education - here is their answer." The representative of the school in his speech does not pay attention to this. "The first statement was August 28, 2016. At the time of contacting the school, there were no places. The plaintiff claims to be previously applied, but the stamp on arrival in Russia was delivered on August 24," he says.

The stamp about the entrance to Russia at Kovan really dates from August 24. The family left the country at the end of July for a couple of weeks, after which it returned and renewed temporary registration. Irina talks about all this in court, but this information, as well as Irina's correspondence with the school in June - early July, is ignored.

I just want my child to study at school

The representative of the Department of Education M.V. Polosin supported the position of the representative of the school. He stated that taking students in schools is the exceptional competence of educational institutions. While the court goes to make a decision, negotiations begin in the hall.

“I just want my child to study at school,” Irina does not hold back tears. - Why was it to bring everything to such a confrontation?

“No one was opposed to accepting your child,” says the representative of the school. - We refused only because there were no more places. And now the boy is already eight years old - in the first grade they only have been credited up to eight.

- Why then did you not say in which schools there were places? Why did the Department of Education not provide us with this information when we wrote them requests?

An employee of the Department of Education is silent, tries not to raise their heads from his papers. Judges come in - the lawsuit is rejected, the decision of the Meshchansky court remains unchanged. After the meeting, parents are looking for a representative of the Department of Education to ask for advice what to do next. But after the announcement of the court decision, he immediately disappeared, he was not found in the corridor.

I am simply forced to violate the law: I will have to buy registration

Similar problems when entering a school arise not only among foreign citizens, but also among Russians. Natalia (asks not to give her last name) I bought an apartment in a new building in New Moscow. The house was rented recently, so the family has not yet managed to make a new residence permit - they used to live in another city. According to the law, citizens of Russia can be ninety days anywhere in the country without issuing temporary registration.

“When I arranged my daughter in first grade, I didn’t ask any registration,” says Natalia. - But in Moscow it was almost the first document that was required. I explained that in two months I would already formally formalize everything, but they didn’t even want to listen to me. They offered to prescribe a child with friends, from friends, the main thing in Moscow. And I do not have such an opportunity. Then they even threaten me that if the daughter does not go to school on September 1, they would inform the guardianship authorities about it. I am simply forced to violate the law: I will have to buy registration. And the daughter looks at me and does not understand why my mother is so rushing and nervous. She is already in the seventh grade, she feels that something is wrong.

The guard did not even let us go to the educational part. He himself said that without Moscow registration they will not take us

The absence of Moscow registration is an obstacle to enrollment in some schools, but does not represent any problem in others. So the Russian citizen Zhanna Musaeva is registered in the suburbs. But her daughter studied at a school in Zelenograd for several years. Problems arose when Jeanne decided to transfer her daughter to Lyceum No. 1354:

-A few years ago, we moved from Kyrgyzstan to Saratov, there my daughter studied at the East European Lyceum. Later they received Russian citizenship and moved to Moscow. The daughter went to a regular school, but the level of education there turned out to be worse. Therefore, they wanted to transfer to the Lyceum. But there, even the guard did not allow us to go to the educational part. He himself said that they would not take us without Moscow registration, ”she says.

But in neighboring school No. 933, registration was not even asked and the girl was recorded in the eighth grade. But she still hopes that next year she will be able to transfer to the Lyceum.

The co -chairman of the Teacher’s trade union Vsevolod Lukhovitsky notes that the intellectual school, where he works, also does not take children without Moscow registration. He explains this all with the same order No. 32, the fulfillment of which is strictly monitored by the capital's Department of Education:

The presence of registration is especially careful when they know that they will soon conduct a check in the school

- Without a document, at least about temporary registration, we simply technically cannot bring the child into the base. Unfortunately, now everything is computerized and we enter all the information on the Internet. I have several assumptions, as is done in some educational institutions. Schools on a different account at the Department of Education. And it may be that the school, which is taken without registration, is considered medium, quiet, important events are never held in it - it is not interesting to the department. Another option: there is a principled director who fights and protects the rights of children. And he takes them at his own peril and risk. But, most likely, parents are still asked to somehow issue registration in the near future. Because sooner or later it will be required.

Lukhovitsky notes that the presence of registration is especially carefully checked when they know that soon they will conduct an audit at school. He agrees that this is a violation of the constitution. The position of the department explains as follows: the child is not deprived of the right to education, but only insist on learning at the place of residence.

They began to say that I violated public order, threatened that they would call the police

Communication with the department’s employees makes us suggest that even there there is no clear position on this issue. Natalia, for example, called a hot line, where the operator girl confirmed that Moscow registration needs a Moscow school. On the same question, a citizen of Russia Aman Dzamanbaev on a hot line said that no registration or registration when entering a school should be provided.

-My sister Nazgul moved to me from St. Petersburg. We wanted to arrange her in school No. 1286 with an in -depth study of the French language, because in St. Petersburg she taught him at the Lyceum. But there they began to demand a constant Moscow residence permit, which Nazgul does not yet. She is still a citizen of Kyrgyzstan, but she has a temporary registration in St. Petersburg. I explained to the school employees that they violate the law, asked to indicate in writing the reason why they did not accept the documents. They refused. Then I took out the phone, asked to say on the camera. They began to say that I violated public order, threatened that they would call the police in order to check who and on what grounds live with me in the apartment. Is this a school or a migration service?

School staff still called the police, who asked Dzhamanbaev to leave the building. Aman wrote down his sister in a neighboring school, where the documents were accepted, despite St. Petersburg registration. Only here instead of the French language is English. The family is worried that the girl will be difficult to keep up with classmates, and the French language will have to be supported by practically with teachers.

Schools ignore this, thereby violating a number of federal and international laws

Analyst of the Civil Assistance Committee Konstantin Troitsky notes that you can never predict which document will ask for the school principal: temporary residence permit, permanent registration or temporary registration for a year. Any option, according to him, is illegal:

- No registration should concern the issues related to the educational process. The decision of the Supreme Court, which confirms this, was made just after the trial, when they did not want to record a child from the Syrian family to school. But schools ignore this, thereby violating a number of federal and international laws. We are going to continue the struggle against such an interpretation of order No. 32. Everyone has the right to education.

The Kovan family had to transfer Arseny to home schooling. This year, the older sister will not go to the festive line on September 1: they also decided to take the girl out of school. Children will take certification at the Moscow Education Center. Well, next year they will try to go to another Moscow school.