Narva rehires support specialists fired for lacking Estonian language skills
The City of Narva has rehired 23 kindergarten and school support specialists previously let go for not meeting Estonian language proficiency requirements. The city knows this is breaking the law, but says that kids would otherwise be left without essential support services.
According to the city government, Narva tried to comply as best it could with Estonia's language requirements. However, when it became clear at the start of the new school year that the city's schools and kindergartens didn't have enough speech therapists on staff, the decision was made to rehire the previously fired specialists.
"The specialists we hired don't have the B2 [language proficiency level]," acknowledged Narva Deputy Mayor Messurme Pissareva. "The thing is that on one hand, they're specialists with B1-level [proficiency], but on the other, they're taking language classes and learning Estonian."
Asked whether the City of Narva is breaking the law by doing this, Pissareva responded both yes and no.
"Yes, this is our reality – but we can't do without these specialists," she emphasized.
The deputy mayor explained that, by law, children must receive support services when needed, but that there are also legal language requirements – and simultaneously complying with both laws is more than Narva can handle. She noted that it's impossible to find support specialists able to work with kids in Russian and are also proficient in Estonian.
The Ministry of Education and Research, meanwhile, isn't buying Narva's tears. According to Minister of Education and Research Kristina Kallas (Eesti 200), the laws aren't meant to bully anyone, but rather ensure quality support services –and this is a responsibility that the local government cannot shirk.
"It's also possible to outsource this service to the private sector," she pointed out.
"You can't just just throw up your hands and say, 'We're not doing anything, you haven't sent us speech therapists – we asked, but you don't have any, so we won't comply with the law,'" the minister said. "It's a responsibility in that someone who works with children must speak Estonian. The B2 [proficiency] level is an intermediate level. Young folks are expected to achieve this level by the end of basic school."
According to Kallas, the Education Ministry will not tolerate this violation of the law, and will be moving forward with issuing precepts and initiating supervisory procedures in Narva.
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Editor: Marko Tooming, Aili Vahtla
