Chechen Head Ramzan Kadyrov has demanded that he receive the names of underperforming schoolchildren as ‘a forced measure aimed at improving the quality of education’.
As of the upcoming school year, the lists will be sent to his administration and the government of Chechnya, according to Chechen Education Minister Khozh-Baudi Daaev.
Daaev made the announcement during a meeting with heads of schools on Tuesday, saying the measure was intended to help educational institutions defend themselves against unfounded complaints from parents. He did not explain how the two issues were connected.
At the same time, he noted that this year, all schools in the republic have signed agreements with parents. Under these agreements, if a child falls behind academically and shows poor results, they may be required to repeat a year.
‘I urge everyone to adhere to the difficult decision we have taken. Otherwise, the situation will only worsen next year. If anyone has objections, they may contact the district administrations or the Ministry of Education and Science of the Chechen Republic. This is a forced measure. And if again next year there are children with low performance, we will act in the same way — until we achieve results and the child begins to study properly. Parents often say: “If you had taught my child properly, they would have passed.” But other children in the same class mastered the programme and received decent grades. This means the problem lies not in the school, but in the pupil’s own attitude towards learning,’ the minister emphasised.
Last year, more than 1,500 schoolchildren in Chechnya were placed in the risk group due to poor grades. These pupils did not meet the requirements to progress to the next class, Daaev explained.
He described the decision to pass lists of underachieving pupils to Kadyrov’s administration as a ‘forced measure aimed at improving the quality of education’. He stressed the importance of shared responsibility between teachers, parents, and school administrations.
The same issue was discussed in March during a meeting between the deputy mayor of Grozny and head of the city’s Department of Education Zelimkhan Akhmatov, and parents of pupils experiencing academic difficulties.
At the same time, this year, only eight students in Chechnya achieved the maximum possible score in the Unified State Exam (EGE). In neighbouring Daghestan, 34 students achieved the grade. This means that in Chechnya, only one out of a thousand students have achieved the highest grade, compared with eight in North Ossetia.
The son of the head of Chechnya, Adam Kadyrov, is now 17 years old. Ramzan Kadyrov has frequently reported on the academic success of his other children on social media, but it remains unclear whether Adam has finished school. At the same time, he has already been appointed to several posts that formally require higher education, including the position of Secretary of the Security Council of Chechnya.
Elizaveta Chukharova
