Search for mechanisms of effective control and ensuring soft adaptation of migrants: Vice-Rector of RUDN University, Anzhela Dolzhikova, about changes in the system of comprehensive examinations for migrants staying in Russia

Under the leadership of the First Deputy Chairman of the Committee of Federation Council on Constitutional Legislation and State Building, Lyudmila Bokova, an interdepartmental platform was formed for a multilateral discussion of the problems associated with conducting a comprehensive exam for migrants staying in Russia.

Lyudmila Bokova, opening the work of the round table, noted that as part of the introduction of the exam in the Russian Federation, tests were developed, an infrastructure was formed where the exam was taken. Now testing is conducted in more than a thousand state and non-state organizations. In a number of regions, unified migration centers have been formed. In 2018, over 1.5 million people took the exam when they received a patent both for temporary and permanent residence. 270 thousand people received Russian citizenship, and some of the compatriots also underwent testing.

Round table participants reviewed the main legislative innovations of the draft federal law developed by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation and made suggestions for its improvement.

The head of the round table, Lyudmila Bokova, emphasized that this system was formed, but the regulatory framework requires improvement, the establishment of a uniform procedure for the examination and uniform criteria for the selection of organizations that conduct it. It is important to strengthen state control over the conduction of a comprehensive exam, especially in non-state educational organizations. It was particularly noted that along with the development of testing mechanisms, the systemic work on preserving the Russian language space, ensuring the availability of programs for studying the Russian language and preparing for a comprehensive exam.

Discussing the draft federal law, Anzhela Dolzhikova noted:

“The draft law of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia, developed in 2019, is the most successful when compared to many legislative initiatives that were developed during the five years of the exam. However, the draft law contains a number of points that require revision, including, in terms of providing a comprehensive exam with effective control mechanisms, exempting a number of categories of people with disabilities from taking the exam. ”

Valentina Kazakova, head of the Main Directorate for Migration of the Ministry of Interior Affairs of Russia, having generally supported the proposed draft law, noted the need for additional elaboration of the points, in accordance with which the examination is supposed to be carried out by organizations responsible for educational activities. These categories of organizations are included in the field of education, including those having a different profile than the main activity.

The participants of the event were presented with the draft Recommendations on the results of the round table, the text will be finalized taking into account the proposals made by the participants.

The draft recommendations on the basis of the discussion noted that for the period of system functioning while conducting a comprehensive exam, a number of provisions of the current legislation require additional legal regulations. It is necessary to create a system of effective control over the conduction of the exam at the regional and federal levels. A normative consolidation of the differentiation on levels of complexity depending on the legal status claimed by foreign citizens is required.

The government was asked to work out the issue of introducing into the current legislation the norms that exempt foreign citizens with serious limitations in health from confirming their knowledge of Russian, knowledge of history and the fundamentals of legislation (1st category disabled people).