Students Challenge Tallinn's Russian Lyceum Plan
A group of student representatives from Russian-curriculum schools is challenging the legality of the Tallinn City Council’s plan to turn the Linnamäe Vene Lütseum into a private institution.
In a March 27 statement, the Assembly of Student Councils said it was asking Justice Chancellor Indrek Teder to look into the matter, since in his public statements about the move, Deputy Mayor Mihhail Kõlvart said that it was being made to circumvent the Basic Schools and Upper Secondary Schools Act, which requires that education in state and municipal upper secondary schools be in Estonian.
The assembly's challenge is the latest twist in a long-running battle between groups in favor of, and opposed to, the government's requirement to have Russian-curriculum upper secondary schools change to a 60-percent Estonian-language curriculum over the next three years.
In its statement, a spokesman for assembly said that students were afraid that "playing with the language of instruction for political motives" could lead to high school students being denied the opportunity to receive quality education in both Estonian and Russian.
"We believe that the optimum course would be for the former Russian-curriculum upper secondary schools to continue the transition to partial Estonian-language instruction as required by law, and for the state on its part to guarantee improved quality of teaching the Estonian language also at basic schools," the statement said.
The group noted that for many Russian-speakers completing basic school, continuing their education in a purely Estonian upper secondary school is currently difficult. But attending a purely Russian-curriculum upper secondary school would stifle their chances of going on to university, it said.
Steve Roman