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Foreign Students May Face Compulsory Russian Language Tests

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Russian universities should demand fluency in Russian from foreign students, according to Vladimir Filippov, the head of Russia?€™s Peoples?€™ Friendship University, the TASS news agency reported Monday.

?€?To be accepted into American and British universities, you must send them the results of an English language test. We don?€™t currently require anything like that from foreigners applying to our universities,?€? said Filippov, TASS reported.

Foreigners studying in Russia ?€?just arrive and enroll,?€? according to Filippov.

?€?This causes problems and there is the issue of taking on an ever-growing number of postgraduate students from Western and African universities,?€? he added.

Filippov also said that Russian universities have difficulty in attracting the best international students.

?€?Unfortunately Russian universities are getting the last pick of good students ?€” those who weren?€™t accepted into the British, French, American and Australian systems.?€?

He added that Russia needs to find a more effective way of attracting talented young people.

A compulsory exam on Russian language, law and history was introduced in 2015 for migrants working in trade, domestic services and construction. Highly-qualified specialists, children under 18 and those taking part in government resettlement programs are excluded from taking the exam.

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