Under the transition to Estonian-language education, as of August 1, teachers who want to continue teaching in Russian must be proficient in Estonian at the B2 or vantage level under the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR); those who want to teach in Estonian must be proficient at the C1 or advanced level, the online news portal reported (link in Estonian).

Early in June, 395 educators took the B2-level language proficiency exam, and another 388 took the C1-level exam. The results out Monday, however, are unfortunate: only 90 teachers, or 22.7 percent, successfully passed the B2 exam, while just 70 educators, or 18 percent, successfully passed the C1 exam.

Such large-scale failures to pass the exams means that many schools are now faced with the problem of how to replace teachers that don't meet minimum language proficiency requirements starting this fall. Principals and local governments are already asking the state what to do in cases where an ambitious teacher may have fallen just a couple of points short of passing their exam.

Speaking to Delfi, Minister of Education Kristina Kallas said that the government intends to discuss the matter on Thursday.

Kallas has come up with a plan for teachers who have already achieved B1-level proficiency, are continuing to study Estonian and are actually capable of achieving B2 proficiency in the near future – to sign a one-year contract for services (töövõtuleping in Estonian) instead, which can be replaced with a new employment contract (tööleping) once they have passed the B2-level exam.

She added that this same opportunity will not be extended to those who have only achieved A1-level proficiency or who aren't actively studying Estonian.

According to the minister, there are currently more than 600 teachers in Estonia who do not meet B2-level requirements, but she nonetheless believes that many teachers already studying Estonian will achieve this proficiency level in the near future, and that no classrooms will end up going empty this fall.

Minister: Teachers' language training gaining momentum

In an appearance on Vikerraadio's "Uudis+" on Wednesday, Kallas said that she isn't taking a negative view of the exam results.

"As a matter of fact, the results have continued to improve with each exam," she highlighted, adding that previous exams have had weaker results. "We're seeing that the number of teachers taking the exam has shrunk, so actually, teachers' language training is gaining momentum."

The minister stressed that more and more teachers are taking the proficiency exams, and that she sees an upward trend in this respect. It's just that it's taken time for teachers to get language training.

"First of all, they start language studies, study for a year, and then finally go on to take the exam," she explained. "It doesn't happen in the snap of a finger and quickly, that all teachers suddenly show up for the exam in June and pass the exam. I don't think we can even have such expectations."

Kallas admitted that it can also be argued that teachers have had more than a decade to study for and pass the B2-level proficiency exam but haven't done so. "But there has never been this kind of pressure before either," she added.

She highlighted the positive aspects, noting that teachers are studying Estonian and in fact greater and greater numbers of them are also passing the required proficiency exams, but also acknowledged that with the deadline set for August 1, time is simply up.

The education minister explained that her planned one-year grace period for teachers who are actively studying Estonian but haven't managed to pass the B2 exam yet is meant for those who have already achieved B1-level language proficiency, because it's not feasible to expect someone who hasn't yet achieved B1 proficiency to achieve B2 proficiency and pass the B2-level exam within the space of a year.

Teachers who are slated to begin teaching in Estonian as of the new school year beginning September 1 will not be given an additional year.

"They'll begin teaching in Estonian on September 1, and they have to have a C1-level proficiency certificate and be proficient in Estonian at the C1 level," Kallas said.

Three years left for other grades

She noted that the majority of local governments have no trouble with the upcoming transition to Estonian-language education in first and fourth grade as well as in kindergartens, adding that a few teaching positions are currently still unfilled, but that school administrators are confident that they'll be able to fill them in time.

"The next three years are the period where teaching will also continue in Russian," Kallas explained. "For example, current seventh grade classes still have to graduate under Russian-language instruction. And they have subject teachers who teach them subjects in Russian, but even those teachers must be proficient in Estonian at the B2 level by August 1."

She noted that there are plenty of teachers currently teaching subjects exclusively in Russian who have been putting in the effort, but still won't manage to pass the B2 exam by August 1.

"They have three years left of teaching in Russian," the minister said. "They have a one-year transition period to reach the B2 level, but three years from now, these teachers will have to gain C1-level proficiency in Estonian; in that sense, B2 is an intermediate stage. Those teachers who currently have six, seven months left to study in order to [pass the exam] – we can sign one-year employment contracts with them."

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