U.S. English Foundation Research
ESTONIA
Language Research
4. Minority groups: To what extent are minority groups in this country disadvantaged by their language?
In the recent history of Estonia, since March 30, 1990 when the country declared sovereignty and established its independence, many events occurred to the disadvantage of the Russian minority. In September 1992 Russians and some Western groups criticized the Presidential elections in Estonia since over 40% of the population was unable to vote. The Estonian government reduced funding for retransmission of Russian-language channels out of Moscow from three channels to one in 1993. In the same year the Estonian government adopted a new election law for municipalities that denied Russian-speaking residents of Estonia the "right" to be elected to local government. Narva and Sillamae, predominantly ethnic-Russian towns, took part in a referendum on whether to declare the towns autonomous regions within Estonia. Well over 90% of those voting supported autonomy within Estonia. The Estonian government has declared the referendum illegal.
Sergei Ivanov, an ethnic Russian member of the Estonian Parliament, characterized the position of Russians with the words: "Russians are de-facto excluded from law-making in Estonia". Comprising about 1/3 of the population, they have only six representatives in Parliament. According to a sociological survey in 1997, 15% of the non-Estonian respondents have lost their job due to not knowing Estonian, 17% have been in danger of losing their job and 15% have been rejected in applying for a job.
Updated (July 2002)
EDUCATION
Publicly funded education in the Russian language is currently available from kinder-garden through secondary school, as well as in vocational schools. However, the liberal access to minority education enjoyed by Russian-speakers heretofore is set to diminish beginning in 2007. Legal provisions have been introduced that may reduce the number of Russian language educational institutions in Estonia.
The transition to a new curriculum began in Russian-language schools in autumn 1998 with the introduction of new textbooks, a large number of which were translated or adapted from Estonian. The quality of new textbooks is reportedly low; some contain a number of mistakes, misprints and inaccurate translation of terms. The use of textbooks printed in the Russian Federation is not welcomed and is unofficially prohibited.
More than three-fourths of Russian-speakers polled in a recent survey advocated preserving Russian-language secondary education or allowing teaching in both languages.
POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
Only citizens enjoy full access to political participation in Estonia, however, this means that 62 percent of persons belonging to minority groups (some 22 percent of the total population) are deprived of effective political access at the national level. Non-citizens who are residents of Estonia for five years can vote, but not run for an office in local elections.
There are no restrictions to prevent citizens of Russian origin from establishing or participating in political parties.
Source: Minority Protection in Estonia, Open Society Institute 2001, http://www.eumap.org/reports/content/10/233/minority_estonia.pdf, EUMAP (The EU Accession Monitoring Program Report on Minority Protection), http://www.eumap.org/reports/content/10
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Updated (February 2005)
ESTONIA PREPARES FOR THE LANGUAGE CHANGEOVER IN RUSSIAN-MEDIUM SCHOOLS
In 2007, the education reform in Estonia should take effect. Since Estonia is following the Latvia's example in this matter, 60 percent of subjects in Russian medium schools will be taught in Estonian and the remaining 40 percent will be taught in "other languages" (Russian).
According to a new opinion poll, some teachers, parents and schoolchildren oppose the reform. The Minister of Justice, Ken-Marti Vaher, to dispel their doubts, explained that some exceptions to the reform would be introduced; however, he had not specified them further.
The school reform in Estonia will be implemented gradually. In 2006, twenty Russian schools will pass through a language immersion system. It means that about 500 Russian-speaking children will receive education only in Estonian from the 6th grade. In 2007, the reform will cover mainly the pupils of the 9th grade (around 5,000 pupils). From 2008, the 60/40 ratio will be compulsory for 10th and 11th grades, and in 2009, also the 12th grade will be included.
In case a municipal school is not ready for the changeover, it may ask the community council for a postponement. The main problem is shortage of qualified Russian-speaking teachers who could teach subjects (especially natural sciences) in Estonian.
The opponents of the reform predict severe deterioration of Russian-speaking schoolchildren's education. Northeastern Estonia, bordering on Russia, is the most problematic region when about 95 percent of the population of Narva are ethnic Russians and their Estonian language skills are rather poor.
The Estonian Language Inspectorate (ELI) constantly checks Russian-language teachers' command of Estonian. In January 2005, the ELI inspected Russian schools in the northeast region. Out of fifty-five examined teachers from the Ahtme gymnasia in the town of Kohtla-Jarve forty-nine failed to pass the Estonian language tests. According to the Estonian legislation, these teachers violated the Law on Language and, therefore, they might be fined or even fired1.
Perhaps surprisingly, the latest opinion poll conducted by the research company EMOR amongst 82 directors and 239 teachers at 82 Russian-medium schools revealed that 83 percent of the directors and 71 percent of the teachers welcome the reform. In 68 of these schools (83 percent) some subjects are already taught in Estonian. Seventy-two percent of these schools are going to extend the number of subjects taught in Estonian next year. However, in the northeastern region teaching in Estonian is not so common. Only 23 of 31 schools in this region provide Estonian language education.
Generally this poll is a little misleading because the subjects like Labor Training, Gymnastics and Music are taught in Estonian, while Russian is still used for Chemistry or Physics.
A choice between the Russian and Estonian language especially depends on the availability of an Estonian-speaking teacher for a particular subject and not on pupils' or parents' request. Although a great majority of pupils and their parents consider command of Estonian as very important, they want Estonian-language teaching only for such subjects as Estonian Literature and Culture. According to them there is no need to change the language of instructions particularly when teachers themselves are not sure about their language skills (only 31 percent of teachers said they are ready to teach subjects in Estonian).
Source: Eurolang News, Tallinn, January 31, 2005, by Alexander Shegedin, http://www.eurolang.net/news.asp?id=4903
1 If fined, then they have an obligation to learn Estonian and pass the special exam. For these cases the ELI has set a deadline of January 1, 2006.
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Updated (August 2006)
OBTAINING RESIDENCE PERMIT BECOMES MORE DIFFICULT FOR NON-EU CITIZENS
Amendments to the Aliens Act (välismaalaste seadus) and other related acts introduce the new concept of long-term residency and tighten the conditions for a residence permit. The amendments to the act came into force on 1 June 2006; they do not apply to EU citizens.
According to the amended act, two types of residence permit are available in Estonia:
- temporary residence permits; and
- residence permits for long-term residents.
The act stipulates that permanent residence permits will no longer be issued and all aliens now holding a permanent residence permit will be automatically re-graded to a long-term residency status - they need only replace the document proving their residence permit. Aliens holding a long-term residence permit in Estonia will need no work permit for employment or engaging in business in Estonia. For the purposes of the act, the term "alien" includes both citizens of third (i.e., non-EU) countries and stateless people.
An alien who applies for a long-term residence permit:
- must have lived in Estonia on the basis of a residence permit continually for at least five years before applying for a long-term residence permit;
- must have a valid temporary residence permit, permanent legal income, health insurance; and
- must have at least a basic level of language proficiency in Estonian.
Taking the basic level language exam is not required of:
- residents under the age of 15 and over the age of 65;
- people who have acquired basic, secondary, or higher education in Estonian;
- adults with restricted active legal capacity; and
- people who for health reasons are permanently unable to take the language exam.
Those who apply for a long-term residence permit before 1 June 2007 will avoid the need to take the basic level Estonian exam.
Source: Infolex (legal portal), Legal Updates. The Baltic States. May 2006 No 41
http://en.infolex.lt/portal/ml/start.asp?act=legupd&lang=eng&biulid=103&srid=49&strid=517
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