Number of State Language Exam Applicants Growing
The number of people signing up to take Estonian state language exams has been growing at a rapid rate for the last two years, prompting Finance Minister Jürgen Ligi to take steps to boost the National Examinations and Qualifications Centre's budget.
This year as many as 14,851 people signed up to take the exams, compared with 9,199 last year and 6,819 in 2008, novosti.err.ee reported.
Ligi is petitioning the government to allocate an additional 44,700 euros to the examination center to accommodate the increase.
As a result of Soviet-era migration, Estonia has a large minority of Russian-speakers many of whom are not fluent in the national language. Passing the exams, which are divided into six levels of proficiency, is a prerequisite to applying for certain jobs as well as Estonian citizenship.
The increase in applications is partly due to a restructuring of the language certificate system in 2008 to make it conform to the six-level EU model. Though language certificates issued before the change are still valid, they may not exactly match those required under the new system, a spokesperson for the examination center told ERR News.
Another reason for the heightened interest could be a more competitive job market in which the certificates can give job candidates an edge.