Tallinn Challenges School Language Decision in Court
The Tallinn City Government has gone to the courts over the national government's decision to deny ten Russian-curriculum schools exemptions to the switch to majority Estonian-language instruction.
Twelve schools in the capital had applied last spring to be exempt from the government-mandated change, which meant that upper secondary schools that had been teaching mainly in Russian would have to change to a 60-percent Estonian-language curriculum over the next three years. The government turned down exemptions for all but two of the schools.
The city has filed a suit with the Tallinn Administrative Court to overturn the government's January 31 decision on constitutional grounds, rus.err.ee reported. Specifically, Article 37 of the Constitution states that “the language of instruction in national minority educational institutions shall be chosen by the educational institution.”
The case may test the substance of the Basic Schools and Upper Secondary Schools Act, which specifies that the language of instruction in upper secondary schools is Estonian unless the government approves an application to the contrary.
In January, the advocacy group Russian School in Estonia also vowed to take the government to court over its denial of the exemptions.
Steve Roman