The Estonian government plans to amend the State Language Law, including determining who is required to learn the state language and what amount will have to be paid for retaking the language exam, writes ERR News.
Minister of Education and Science Kristina Kallas said on September 25 that the State Language Law needs to be modernized to reflect the needs of today’s society and the labor market. The changes to the law are planned to define groups for whom language proficiency requirements can be eased, prohibit the screening of films dubbed in foreign languages in cinemas (with the exception of films intended for children), and set a price for retaking the state language exam.
Kallas noted that the draft law sends a clear message that language proficiency requirements must be met: “We need to be more demanding together with employers so that in the future, we’ll still be able to conduct all aspects of life in Estonian.” She added that in today’s world of smart devices,
there are quite a few tools that can be used for language learning and translation.
The draft law outlines groups that are exempt from the state language proficiency requirement during the first five years of residence. The currently used terms “foreign specialist” and “foreign expert” will be replaced by “top specialist,” and, in addition to academic staff, will apply to foreign educators who have temporarily arrived in Estonia to teach a foreign language or who work in international programs.
Estonian language proficiency will be mandatory wherever services are provided, including in public institutions, such as the government and legal institutions. This means that the changes will also affect the work and internal processes of city councils and rural municipalities, where from now on all communication must be in Estonian. Kallas explained that until now the State Language Law only applied to documentation, but the amendments provide that all meetings and internal communication must be in the state language.
It is also planned to increase the amount of fines for violations of the State Language Law, which for legal entities could reach as much as ten thousand euros.
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