Russian Homeschoolers Rapidly Rising

Less than 30 years removed from the cold war, Russia could now be home to 100,000 homeschoolers as the popularity of at-home learning rapidly rises.

According to OneNewsNow, the world’s largest country is now second to only the United Kingdom in the number of homeschoolers among European countries. That statistic is especially impressive considering the lack of freedoms the country’s citizens experienced as part of the Soviet Union.

“I do believe that home education has a big future in Russia,” said Pavel Parfentiev, who wrote Russia’s first book on homeschooling. “Russian law specifically states that the parents are the primary educators of their children. But there is always room for improvement.”

An increase in faith-based institutions and economic development in the country are two reasons cited for the increased number of homeschoolers. Yet, homeschool leaders are hoping homeschooling can expand even more by providing Christian teachings within the curriculum and targeting faith communities like the Orthodox Church.

“Right now, all kinds of groups do homeschooling, but Christians are still a minority,” said homeschooling advocate Alexey Komov. “We think if we engage this group, which is the predominant faith group in Russia, that will help greatly to expand home education.”