Yamal Nenets children back to tundra for school break

Summer vacation has begun in the schools of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, and children from indigenous peoples attending boarding schools are being transported back to their homes in the tundra. Helicopters are flying 3,200 children from 23 boarding schools back to their homes in the tundra. The largest group of children, 800, is heading home to the Tazov tundra. Indigenous children make up about one-third of the total student population in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Nenets people account for 5% of the okrug’s population of approximately 500,000.

The Russian government considers this initiative important, as it is believed that otherwise the children would lose their connection to their traditions, language, and culture. Each group of students returning home is accompanied by a local expert who ensures that the students actually reach their homes. At the same time, students in grades 9–11 cannot yet return home because they have exams ahead of them, and their return home will not take place until the end of June.