Language Inspectorate wants school support staff to speak A2-level Estonian
School cleaners, cooks, and other auxiliary workers will be required to speak Estonian at A2 level under new proposals submitted by the Language Inspectorate (Keeleamet) to the Ministry of Education.
Several schools have asked the agency to clarify the regulations around support staff when the transition to Estonian language education comes into effect later this year.
"We have proposed that it could be A2 level for a cook who interacts with the students – they cook the porridge, but also hand it out and ask if it tastes good and if you want more. Or if the child wants to ask something, the cook would be able to explain these things. And probably A2 level would be enough," Ilmar Tomusk, director general of the agency, told Friday's "Aktuaalne kaamera".
The proposal lays out requirements for cleaners if they communicate with students and teachers. If the institution buys services from a company, the company is responsible for making sure its staff meets the rules.
"It is the company's responsibility to recruit staff who speak the language if they are already required to do so. We have a contract, we sign the contract and then there should be a clause in there that mutually everybody has to follow the law and the contract," said Oksana Joganson, Lasnamäe High School director.
The Ministry of Education said it has not decided on the issue, but it understands schools require guidance.
"The reform of the transition to Estonian-language learning, which we are making all these changes to support and enforce, is very much based on the premise that a child who spends a lot of their daily time in an educational institution should be in an Estonian-language environment. Whether or not there is a need to raise the level of language proficiency for cooks in particular, it is difficult to say today, and it is too early to say," said Andero Adamson, head of the ministry's Language Policy Department.
The Language Board also suggested all hobby coaches could speak at least B1 level Estonian.
"The language requirements for teachers also apply to teachers in recreational schools, but there are no language requirements for coaches. And obviously, if there is a new requirement, some kind of transition period, for example, two years, is reasonable," Tomusk said.
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Editor: Marko Tooming, Helen Wright
