Prominent Journalist Blasts Russian School Reforms
The editor-in-chief of Vikerkaar, a well-established culture magazine, has published an article sharply criticizing government plans to change the main language of instruction in Russian upper-secondary schools to Estonian, calling the move "assimilation under the guise of integration."
Writing in the magazine's May issue, Märt Väljataga said that with the Estonianization of Russian schools, Estonia is officially becoming monocultural.
"Our Russians have been thrown under the wheels of assimilation, their education, culture and identity made a temporary phenomenon," he wrote.
Speaking in an interview with ERR, Väljataga said he sees the switch to an Estonian-language curriculum, a change planned for this September, as the first step in turning Russian into a "kitchen language" that is only spoken in the home.
He predicted that the process would result in a Russian-speaking people without an education, who don't value their culture and who end up leaving the country.
"The media are creating the impression that Russians aren't interested in education in the Russian language, and that it's only some political forces that are kicking up a fuss around this issue. That's absurd - the Estonianization of Russian schools seems like a petty revenge of Estonian nationalism," he said.
The Ministry of Education's plans to make Estonian the primary language of education in Russian upper-secondary schools this year have been met with a large degree of controversy, both due to concerns over cultural preservation and because many schools are still ill-prepared for the change.
Steve Roman