Estonian Minister of Education and Research Kristina Kallas (Eesti 200) said she did not consider it justified to grant class- or group-based exemptions simply because children with special educational needs had been enrolled.

"The current arrangements already provide for the possibility to organize the teaching of pupils with special educational needs according to their abilities. It is not right to say that there are children who are unable to make the transition to Estonian at all. In the case of children with specific special needs, the approach is an individualized one, not class-based," the minister explained.

Speaking at a government press conference, Kallas said that the issue is not that these pupils are not unable to switch to Estonian as the only language of instruction, but rather how best to organize the transition for them. In a situation where there is only one child with special educational needs in a particular class, it is not reasonable to implement the transition in a loose or class-by-class basis, she added.

The City of Narva has applied to the government for a partial permit for the 2024/2025 academic year, which would allow 40 percent of classroom instruction to take place in the Russian language in classes at five of the city's schools, and for some groups at three of its kindergartens. Exceptions were requested mainly for those classes and groups where children enrolled for enhanced and special support.

The City of Narva's application was also assessed by the government's special committee for the transition to Estonian-language education. The committee found that there were no compelling reasons to grant an exception. It also stated that it was not in the best interests of the pupils in question to miss out on their development potential, or the chance to be provided Estonian-language education on the basis of a preliminary assessment that the child was not able to do so.

According to Kallas, the committee provided the City of Narva, as well as other municipalities, a list of recommendations about how to support children with special educational needs during the transition to Estonian-language education. They should, for example, be given at least three to four Estonian language support lessons a week and be provided with learning support from assistant teachers who speak their first language to help them cope with the material.

For pupils with an intellectual disability in residential care, the law allows schools to choose the language of instruction for the education they receive.

Under both the Basic School and Upper Secondary Schools Act and the Preschool Childcare Institutions Act, the only language of instruction in kindergartens, basic schools and upper secondary schools is Estonian. According to the law, the government may, if there is a valid reason to do so, authorize teaching and education to take place in a foreign language.

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