Activist: Russian-Curriculum Schools Lack Estonian
There is not enough Estonian language in Russian lower secondary schools, said Sergei Metlev, representative of nonprofit organization Avatud Vabariik (Open Republic) which mostly unites Russian-language youth.
Metlev made his statement during a meeting with the advisers to the High Commissioner on National Minorities of the Organization or Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) on May 12.
"The main issue towards which we tried to draw the attention of the OSCE officials, was that some local governments have shown virtually no support for the Russian-speaking teachers learning Estonian," said Metlev.
According to him, Tallinn city government has promised free language courses to teachers whose Estonian language skills are poor, yet by now only a few have been granted the opportunity.
"Instead Deputy Mayor of Tallinn, Mihhail Kõlvart is actively provoking parents against teaching classes in Estonian and his predecessor Yana Toom is publishing articles in media about how one can get along well without knowing Estonian," said Metlev.
"The situation is even more bizarre, as bilingual education has been applied in both kindergartens and upper secondary schools, yet it has been completely overlooked in lower secondary schools between the two, negating the basic knowledge acquired in playschools and making it harder for students to continue in high school," Metlev explained.
Currently, most Russian-speaking students finish their lower secondary school with a B1 language skill, meaning that they can understand and write simple texts on a familiar subject. To enhance Estonian language skills, language immersion programs have been implemented, where each year around 4,000 students participate. "This is clearly not enough," Metlev stressed.
Beginning this September, upper secondary schools must start teaching 60 percent of their classes in Estonian, as required by the education reform legislation.
Ingrid Teesalu