Parents Fight to Keep Russian-language High School (1)

Published: 29.11.2010 09:27

Russian textbooks ( Photo: Postimees/Scanpix )

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Student parents in the southern border town of Valga, protested the local government's proposal to get rid of their Russian-language secondary school and put Estonian and Russian-speaking students together in a new school.

"It has a long tradition – my parents, [grandparents], uncles and aunts all attended this school,“ said 11th grader Armand Teever.

Outside of Tartu, the town of Valga, with a sizable Russian-speaking population, has the only remaining Russian-curriculum high school in southern Estonia. 

Valga town council chairwoman Külliki Siilak said the local government will give up its plan to bring Estonian and Russian-speaking students under one roof if protests continue.

A legacy of Soviet times, Estonia has traditionally had separate high school curricula catering to Estonian and Russian-speaking cultures. Next year, Russian-curriculum secondary schools are required to teach 60 percent of their material in Estonian, a reform that has met with mixed reaction. 

Parents of students in the Russian-language school in Valga are against the mandate. Estonia has 52 Russian-language high schools.

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Comments (1)

  • mangimages5

    31.12.2010 21:23

    The last "free" period in Estonia lasted about 20 years. This "free" period has been about 20 years. The russian speakers who won't learn Estonian are waiting for Mother Russia to revert back to the USSR and save them from the attractive blond singing and dancing horde.