16.01.2024, 12:59
Estonia will stop financing Russian-language education
Source: OREANDA-NEWS
OREANDA-NEWS The Estonian government plans to stop funding education in Russian, Prime Minister Kaya Kallas said, explaining the government's actions in the transition to a unified Estonian school in parliament on Tuesday.
"The Constitution says: the official language of Estonia is Estonian, and everyone has the right to study in Estonian. (...) The government intends to stop funding Russian-language education and switch to a unified Estonian-language education," Kallas said, stressing that the government is not going to engage in Russification of Estonian children.
According to Kallas, quoted by the press service of the Parliament, the goal of the transition to a unified Estonian-language education is for all Estonians to be in a single information space, to master the Estonian language in Estonia, and there are more and more people using the Estonian language.
"So that we don't have two different systems, and that's what we're working on. It was a big problem, and I agree that it should have been done a very, very long time ago. Better late than never. In any case, we must move in this direction," the prime minister said.
Earlier, on December 19, 2022, Estonian President Alar Karis approved amendments to the law "On Primary and Secondary Schools" and other laws on the transition of Russian schools to the Estonian language of instruction.
According to the updated law, in the 2024/2025 academic year, kindergartens and grades 1-4 of the basic school will be the first to switch to education in Estonian. Schools will be required to ensure the transition to Estonian-language education in the 10th grade no later than 2030/2031 academic year, in the 11th grade - no later than 2031/2032 academic year, and in the 12th grade - no later than 2032/2033 academic year.
Now in Estonia, where about 25% of Russian-speaking residents, children still have the right to study in their native language until the ninth grade in schools of national minorities. In high school, more than 60% of school subjects are taught in the state language and about 40% in Russian.
"The Constitution says: the official language of Estonia is Estonian, and everyone has the right to study in Estonian. (...) The government intends to stop funding Russian-language education and switch to a unified Estonian-language education," Kallas said, stressing that the government is not going to engage in Russification of Estonian children.
According to Kallas, quoted by the press service of the Parliament, the goal of the transition to a unified Estonian-language education is for all Estonians to be in a single information space, to master the Estonian language in Estonia, and there are more and more people using the Estonian language.
"So that we don't have two different systems, and that's what we're working on. It was a big problem, and I agree that it should have been done a very, very long time ago. Better late than never. In any case, we must move in this direction," the prime minister said.
Earlier, on December 19, 2022, Estonian President Alar Karis approved amendments to the law "On Primary and Secondary Schools" and other laws on the transition of Russian schools to the Estonian language of instruction.
According to the updated law, in the 2024/2025 academic year, kindergartens and grades 1-4 of the basic school will be the first to switch to education in Estonian. Schools will be required to ensure the transition to Estonian-language education in the 10th grade no later than 2030/2031 academic year, in the 11th grade - no later than 2031/2032 academic year, and in the 12th grade - no later than 2032/2033 academic year.
Now in Estonia, where about 25% of Russian-speaking residents, children still have the right to study in their native language until the ninth grade in schools of national minorities. In high school, more than 60% of school subjects are taught in the state language and about 40% in Russian.
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