MOSCOW, April 19 (RAPSI) - The State Duma has turned down a bill that prevents the children of high-ranking government officials from attending schools abroad.  The act was considered as part of an initiative banning officials from owning assets abroad sponsored by President Vladimir Putin in February.

The issue drew attention after Alexei Navalny, a lawyer known for his campaign against corruption, published information regarding State Duma lawmaker Speaker Sergei Zheleznyak's daughters, one of whom studies in the United Kingdom and the other of whom studies in Switzerland.

Navalny accused Zheleznyak of hypocrisy as a lawmaker and a "patriot," stressing that while he supported the controversial U.S. adoption ban, his daughters openly parade lavish lifestyles that are out of reach for the majority of Russian children.

Oleg Smolin, the first deputy chairman of the lower house's education committee, has argued that individuals holding high-ranking government posts should send their children to Russian schools because lawmakers whose children attend foreign schools tend to lose track of what is going on inside Russia's educational system.

According to Smolin, a ban on sending children to study abroad would help them make better decisions on education.  Earlier, United Russia lawmakers said they would draft a law requiring the children of officials to return to work in Russia after graduating abroad.