State to support Estonian language instruction to non-native speakers with over EUR 1 mln

TALLINN - The Estonian Ministry of Education and Research is allocating over one million euros to the City of Tallinn for organizing the teaching of the Estonian language in preschool establishments where instruction and educational activities are not provided in Estonian.

The goal of the support is to ensure that children whose first language is not Estonian should have equal opportunities compared with native speakers for participating actively in the Estonian society and continuing their studies in all levels of education. As a result of the program, the Estonian language proficiency is expected to improve among non-native speakers by the time they finish kindergarten.

The instruction of Estonian as a second language is organized and educational materials provided as part of the program for 410 language learning groups of children whose first language is not Estonian.

A program entitled "Professional Estonian-speaking language teacher in a Russian-speaking study group" is underway in 46 groups in preschool establishments with one Estonian-speaking instructor per group whose a minimum salary amounts to 1,315 euros. Groups in the program are ensured educational materials in Estonian, a professional Estonian-speaking teacher and continued training for the latter, as well as improved Estonian language proficiency for children in the group in accordance with the national curriculum for preschool establishments spanning from January through December.