As the state lacks the resources to develop a bilingual school system, the transition to all Estonian–language teaching will take place in the majority of educational institutions already during the new school year, Minister of Education Tõnis Lukas said at a press conference dedicated to the start of the school year, informs Estonian Public Broadcasting ERR.
«The transition to Estonian as the sole language of instruction begins in kindergartens, basic and secondary education and vocational schools,» Lukas said.
In order to achieve this goal, the government is currently establishing a legislative framework that takes into account regional differences and school structures in order to apply different approaches when necessary, the minister said.
Lukas said, one of the goals for the 2023 school year is to make Estonian the language used during lessons in Ida–Viru County. «In fact, this transition could happen even sooner also there; for example, in Tartu, two schools and three kindergartens have already switched from Russian to Estonian,» he said.
The Ministry of Education’s curriculum plan calls for an increase in the number of Estonian language classes in be–lingual Russian–language schools.
«Estonian lessons are held four times a week until the third grade. In grades four through seven, the number of weekly lessons increases to five,» Lukas added.
Minsiter said that this includes plans to modify the level of final examinations for various levels of education. He indicated that in elementary schoo, the language proficiency level is B2 rather than B1 and C1 in upper secondary school,» said the minister.
In addition to language proficiency requirements for students, the state also seeks to regulate the language skills of teachers. «To that end, we are requesting an amendment to the Language Act that would allow the Language Board (Keeleamet) to conduct monitoring in schools even during lessons,» Lukas said.
Teachers whose language proficiency does not meet the requirements will no longer be eligible to teach starting from 2023/2024 school year. «We anticipate that all school leaders will sign on to the targets and adhere to the language level requirements,» Lukas continued.
Additionally, the selection of B foreign languages will become more diverse, and schools will be required to provide students a range of options. Currently, such a requirement does not exist, Lukas said.
As we do not have the resources to build a bilingual educational system, the minister of education emphasized that the state must promote the exclusive use of Estonian language.«When it becomes clear that Estonian is essential, a serious approach toward the language will follow,» Lukas said.
The minister also emphasized the importance of teacher compensation. Currently, the Ministry of Education and Research recommends that teachers with a master’s degree are paid 120% of the Estonian average wage.
In Estonia most schools will teach only in state language next year
