17,000 primary school teachers will be redundant this academic year.

The number of primary school students (grades 1-4) in the coming school year will decrease by almost 348 thousand people, analysts of the Teacher trade union calculated based on birth rate data.

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"This means that already in the upcoming academic year, more than 17.3 thousand primary school teachers will become redundant, and in 2026-2027, almost 21.5 thousand more will be released," Olga Miryasova, the trade union's organizing secretary, told Izvestia.

In the 2026-2027 academic year, 429.7 thousand fewer first-graders will go to school than this year, and in 2027-2028 — 411 thousand fewer.

Against the background of the demographic forecast, a surplus of teachers is expected, mainly in elementary schools, the Ministry of Education confirmed.

"Currently, the issue of systematic retraining of outgoing primary school teachers is being worked out in order to keep them in the education system in high—demand areas as subject teachers in primary and high schools, teachers of extended day groups, additional education teachers, psychologists, defectologists," the department said.