Russia's education system is multicultural. As many as 3,300 schools teach an estimated 79 non-Russian languages. Another 9,000 schools attended by 1.6 million students teach the mother tongues as a second language. All children have to go to school in Russia. But a 1996 amendment to the 1992 education bill allowed school authorities to expel trouble making students, which had been impossible in the Soviet-era.
Most schools are still state-run.
Only some 50,000 students go to private schools. However, economic decline has meant that the cash-strapped government has been finding it harder and harder to sustain what was once a vibrant education sector. With the situation unlikely to change for a long time to come, the development of private, fee paying institutions has been put forth as one of the solutions for an ailing educational sector. It is widely accepted that Russia needs to find its own ways to develop the national education system. The promotion of distant education is seen by some as an answer to challenges posed by the country's dispersed population and poor road network.