Phoenix 24
Demographic decline explains part of the collapse, but policy accelerated it.
Moscow
Russia has lost approximately 45 percent of its schools since the beginning of the century, reducing the national network from about 68,800 institutions in 2000 to fewer than 38,000 in the 2025 to 2026 academic year. The contraction has been far steeper than the decline in the school age population, which fell by roughly 14 percent over the same period. The disparity suggests that demographics alone cannot explain the disappearance of thousands of educational institutions. Rural communities have absorbed the greatest impact.
More than half of Russia’s rural public schools have disappeared during the past 25 years. Their number fell from more than 45,000 to around 21,000 as population decline combined with a financing model based increasingly on enrollment. Small schools with fewer pupils consequently received less funding, making many financially unsustainable. Thousands were merged with larger institutions or closed completely.
The effects reach beyond education. Researchers have linked school closures with accelerated rural depopulation because families frequently relocate when children must travel long distances to continue their studies. In some villages, the disappearance of a school can weaken the entire local economy by encouraging younger residents to leave permanently. What begins as an administrative consolidation can therefore become part of a much broader demographic contraction.
Urban schools have also declined, although less dramatically. Their number has fallen from more than 22,000 at the beginning of the century to roughly 16,300 today. At the same time, average enrollment per school has increased substantially, reflecting a system increasingly concentrated in larger institutions. Private schools have expanded, but they still represent only a small fraction of Russia’s overall educational network.
The remaining system has also undergone an ideological transformation. Since September 2022, Russian schools have been required to hold weekly classes known as Conversations About Important Things, using educational materials developed by the state. Topics include traditional values, patriotism, Russia’s international role and the war in Ukraine, officially described by Moscow as a special military operation.
New standardized history textbooks have reinforced that shift. The materials present the Kremlin’s interpretation of Crimea, Ukraine, Western sanctions and Russia’s geopolitical position, while international human rights organizations have criticized them for distorting historical events and minimizing documented violations during the war.
Russia’s educational transformation is therefore occurring on two levels at once. The country has fewer schools, especially in rural areas, while the institutions that remain are becoming more centralized both financially and ideologically.
When schools disappear, a country can lose far more than classrooms.
¿Esta conversación te resultó útil hasta ahora?