A fear of losing their jobs is becoming almost palatable among Russian-speaking teachers is Estonia (see story Page 16).
These fears highlight a problem Estonia still suffers from that should have been resolved a long time ago. More than 30 percent of the population of the country is Russian-speaking, and an uncomfortably large portion of those residents speak only a smattering of the national language.
Teachers that oppose the language requirements for educators say that many of those who have been 20 years of experience working in the country will be replaced by inexperienced newcomers 's which will ultimately bring the quality of education throughout the entire country down.
But this begs the question: if someone has been working in a country for more than 20 years and has still not bothered to learn the state language, do they really have the spark for learning necessary to be a good teacher?
The problem is far wider than just in the education sector. In Narva 's Estonia's third largest city, which is located in the north-east of the country on the border with Russia 's for example, only about 3 percent of the population is ethnic Estonian. In this region of the country, it is almost impossible to get by without some knowledge of Russian.
Though in Tallinn the situation is a bit better, the number Estonians in the city is still only about 55 percent.
Apparently many members of the Russian-speaking community that have spent most of their lives in Estonia are deliberately refusing to learn the language. After all, it seems impossible that someone could spend 20 years in a country and fail to pick up enough basic phrases to at least get around.
This is one of the most childish displays of political dissatisfaction imaginable. Residents are stymieing their own mental development to show that they are not happy with the state they choose to live in. It is reminiscent of teenagers going on drug binges to prove something to their parents.
But the blame for the ongoing divide in Estonia does not lie solely at the feet of the Russian-speaking community. As has been noted numerous times by various human rights bodies operating on a European and world scale, Estonian legislation is less than accommodating to this large portion of its population.
Some 100,000 residents of the country hold grey passports 's the government refers to this group as those with "undetermined citizenship." They are not allowed to vote, serve in the army or get work visas in other European countries.
This is an unacceptably large number, and governments past and present have done little to make a significant dent in the number of stateless people residing in the country. It is no surprise, then, that members of the Russian-speaking community would not be willing to make their own efforts at integration.
It is clear that both sides 's the Russian-speaking community and the powers that be in Estonia 's need to start making some concessions and really work toward integrating the society, because the sharp division that exists now ends up harming both sides of the equation.
