Unprofitable to Maintain: Rural Schools Continue to Close in Russia

According to the Ministry of Education, 861 rural schools have been closed in the regions since 2022. Maintaining entire buildings is unprofitable for authorities. 

On counting NGS55.RU reports that the Saratov Region saw the most school closures. In September 2022, 421 schools were open there, while in September 2024, only 245 remained. In the Moscow Region, 72 schools were closed, 62 in the Kursk Region, and another 53 in the Voronezh Region. The Caucasus Region saw the fewest school closures, but new ones were also opened there due to population growth. 

Konstantin Derevyanko, a member of the Presidential Council on the Russian Language, attributed these measures to the outflow of population from rural areas. He added that small schools often do not meet the Ministry of Education's current requirements. 

District authorities have decided to close the school due to low student enrollment and the building's dilapidated condition. Parental protests are frequent, but have had little impact. Defend the school managed Last year, in the village of Shoksha in Mordovia, where the unique Shoksha dialect of the Erzya language was taught. In other regions, they continue to cut costs: Ulyanovsk regions are cutting a third of rural schools, in Arkhangelsk In the region, children from the village of Nikolskoye are left without a school.