DUSHANBE, August 1, 2012, Asia-Plus -- Russia is sending 200 Russian-language teachers to Tajikistan''s northern province of Sughd, Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service reports.

Sughd''s regional education department head, Saidmukhtor Jalolov, said on July 31 that the Russian teachers will arrive in Tajikistan to teach local children, in accordance with a bilateral agreement signed by the two countries'' education ministries earlier.

Local authorities will provide the teachers with accommodation.

Also on July 31, the first language test center in Russia was opened in the country''s second largest city -- St. Petersburg.

The head of Russia''s Federal Migration Service, Konstantin Romodanovsky, said that labor migrants involved in the service and catering industries in Russia will be obliged to pass a Russian language test to be eligible to obtain a work permit.

Tens of thousands of Tajiks, Uzbeks, and Kyrgyz go to Russia as labor migrants each year.