Estonian language problem in schools persist

  • 2010-09-15
  • By Ella Karapetyan

TALLINN - According to Ilmar Tomusk, director of the National Language Inspectorate, the latest statistics show that among teachers from Russian-language schools, 70 percent still do not have sufficient Estonian language skills. However, according to Tomusk, the situation is now improving. “It’s too difficult to give an exact number, because that is constantly changing. A lot of teachers who took the language proficiency exam between 1992 and 1999 still do not meet requirements,” Tomusk explained.

Tomusk asserted that competence in the official state language is an essential professional requirement for schoolteachers. He claims that employers should not hire those who do not meet professional standards, and concerning school staff, substandard language skills may be sufficient grounds for dismissal. “The language inspectorate can issue written orders, but we do not have the authority to discharge people from work. Therefore, we can’t monitor how many teachers are let go because of inadequate language skills,” Tomusk said. “Some of the Russian-language schools in Tallinn and Ida-Viru County are showing weak results in teaching Estonian. However, the situation is gradually improving.”

The nationwide overhaul for Russian-curriculum high schools to adopt an extensive Estonian-language program began in 2007. Beginning in the 2011/2012 school year, Russian-curriculum high schools are required to teach 60 percent of their material in Estonian. Subjects include Estonian literature, social studies and music. Tomusk added that many teachers have received additional training in connection with the overhaul.

“Our salary is not enough to take Estonian courses regularly, the courses are very expensive and the state does not support teachers. In any other European country people get some budget for taking language courses, many countries even offer free courses as long as you need them. It is quite difficult for a Russian-speaking person to learn Estonian well, as we work in a Russian school where the main language used is Russian,” said one of the teachers, who asked to remain anonymous, from a state Russian school, to The Baltic Times.

According to the vice-mayor of Tallinn, Yana Toom, some teachers from Tallinn schools have serious problems with the knowledge of the Estonian language, however, this year the city is going to take an active part in solving this problem. “The problem with the Estonian language among Russian-speaking teachers really exists, and it remains one of the big issues nowdays.”

The vice-mayor says she met with Tomusk, and they agreed on how to solve the language problem at Tallinn schools during this academic year. Tomusk added that within this academic year the language inspection will check the knowledge of Estonian language efficiency in 5 Russian schools.

He also predicts that the number of violators will reach up to 250-300 people who have poor knowledge of the Estonian language, or have no corresponding document. For the solution of a problem both Toom and Tomusk agreed that during the inspection checks carried out by the Language inspectorate, a representative of the city’s authorities will also participate. Everyone who gets a written order by the inspectorate, based on the results of check- ups, will the same day receive an assignment for Estonian language courses, to be paid by Tallinn city. “To be honest, I do not see this as a solution to the problem, as there are many who have been studying the language for 20 years and still do not have the required language category.”

Nevertheless, she considers this program important. “We should continue to move in this direction anyway. I do not think that any panaceas exist which will be able to cure this problem or change the situation for the better,” the vice-mayor added.

The New York Times explored the situation of Estonia’s Russian-language learning schools, describing how the teachers are forced to learn the Estonian language and this could be slowly becoming the sector where Estonian society will suffer the most for its internal division. Interviewing some teachers from Pae Gymnasium, one of the best schools in Tallinn, reporters from The New York Times discovered that teachers are openly afraid of language inspectors who have the right to fine or discipline public employees who do not speak competent Estonian.

The fear, felt in schools as in many other segments of Estonian society, comes from the general impression that language inspectors would not be particularly interested in what people answer to their questions, rather than how they do it – or, at least, this is what the The New York Times reported.

Estonia has been mounting a determined campaign to elevate the status of its native language and to marginalize the Russian language, the tongue of its former colonizer, and apparently this is the reason why public schools like Pae Gymnasium, where children have been taught in Russian for many years, have turned into linguistic battlegrounds.
The National Language Inspectorate is in charge of ensuring the Russian schools teachers’ knowledge of the Estonian language, but according to the U.S. paper, the local Russians are not pleased with inspectors’ work: “The agency has only 18 inspectors, it is such a provocative symbol of the country’s language regulations that even Amnesty International has criticized its tactics as heavy-handed.”

In December 2008, every third teacher of Pae Gymnasium failed the language exam. One of them was 57-year-old biology and geography teacher Olga Muravjova, who has to learn a devilishly difficult language at her age. The teachers who passed the exam said that the exam was very difficult. English teacher Natalja Sirokova said that it was very stressful because of the fear of making a mistake.

Tomusk said to the The New York Times that the greatest challenge in Estonia’s language policy is the Russian schools teachers’ level of Estonian language, because it is lower than what is demanded from students. The director of the Pae Gymnasium, Izabella Riitsaar, agrees with Tomusk that a person who lives in this country has to know this country’s language but, at the same time, she understands the concern of her employees because no one likes taking exams.