The City of Tallinn is updating its school placement assignment system to distinguish between the terms "Estonian-language school" ("eestikeelne kool") and "school transitioning to Estonian as the language of instruction" ("eestikeelsele õppekeelele üleminev kool"), and parents will be able to choose which option they prefer for their child, Tallinn Deputy Mayor Andrei Kante (Center) said Wednesday.

Tallinn lahutab koolikoha määramise süsteemis mõisted eestikeelne kool ja eestikeelsele õppekeelele üleminev kool ning lapsevanem saab otsustada, kumba varianti ta oma lapsele eelistab, ütles Tallinna abilinnapea Andrei Kante.

Estonia's capital city drew heavy criticism after a report on ETV's "Aktuaalne kaamera" news broadcast on Monday revealed that as all schools will be teaching in Estonian in first grade, some native Estonian-speaking children may end up placed in a currently Russian-language school.

This is false information deliberately being disseminated by critics, because the city government's official position is that a child whose home language is Estonian will not be sent to a Russian-language school, Kante, Tallinn's deputy mayor of education, said Wednesday.

According to Kante, the transition to Estonian-language education has been discussed with the relevant expert committee, and the city has decided to implement the latter's proposal to distinguish between Estonian-language schools and schools transitioning to Estonian-language education.

"Parents can choose a suitable school for their child," he said. "That means that an Estonian-speaking child will, at the request of the parent, be enrolled in an Estonian-language school. The formalization of this decision can be expected shortly."

In an opinion piece penned response to criticism from Minister of Education Kristina Kallas (Eesti 200) and published by ERR on Tuesday, Kante noted that Tallinn certainly isn't impeding or sabotaging the transition to Estonian-language education, and that Tallinn has no intention of placing native Estonian-speaking children in currently Russian-language schools until all schools have successfully transitioned to Estonian-language education.

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