Only 28% of minority school teachers who recently took the B2 level Estonian proficiency exam were able to pass it, and by the beginning of August all teachers who previously taught their subjects in Russian had to do so, writes EER News.
By the 1st of the August, teachers who teach Russian as a foreign language in state and municipal educational institutions must pass the B2 level Estonian language exam. Teachers who teach subjects in Estonian are required to have the highest level of language proficiency. A B2 level of language proficiency means that a person can express themselves and communicate freely in a given language.
The results are an unpleasant surprise – only 28% of teachers were able to pass the exam, and the result is lower than last year and previous years. Maiki Udam, head of the Educational Quality Department at the Education and Youth Board, pointed out that the results vary from place to place. In Tartu, almost half of the 27 teachers passed the exam, while in Tallinn, only 50 teachers out of 207 have the necessary knowledge, which is only 24% of the total number.
Ingar Dubolazov, who is leading the transition to education in the state language at the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research, said that such results were expected, and most likely the teachers who did not pass the exam did not intend to do so, because they know that their employment will be terminated after the 1st of August. Dubolazov pointed out that
everyone who was unable to pass the B2 level language exam will have to leave their jobs,
but the ministry does not see this as a big problem.
Dubolazov noted that the situation was twice as worrying last year than it is this summer.
Some Tallinn schools are reassigning teachers who have not passed the highest level exam, C1, to positions where it is still possible to work with an intermediate level of language skills. Tallinn Deputy Mayor Aleksei Jašin said: “This year, the required level (to teach) in grades 6-9 is B2, and the head of the school decides whether a teacher can continue, for example, in real classes for a year or two or until they have passed the exam. In that case, of course, it is legitimate and the correct course of action. We are still in a situation where there is a shortage of educators.”
Tallinn plans to hire 200 new teachers in both schools and kindergartens by the 1st of September, which is half the number needed last year. However, the task will be more challenging next summer, as at least intermediate language skills will also be required of teaching assistants in kindergartens. Jašin pointed out that out of 1,700 kindergarten teacher assistants, 300 currently do not know Estonian at an intermediate level.
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