Vene koolide valmisolekust üleminekuks eesti õppekeelega gümnaasiumile 2007. aastal
Are Russian-medium schools ready to change over to Estonian as a language of secondary-level instruction in 2007?

Summary/Abstract: At present, the full programme of general education is available both in Estonian and in Russian. According to the Basic and Upper Secondary Schools Act , however, in upper secondary schools the language of instruction is the Estonian language. Thus the law requires that from 2007 all local foreign-medium secondary schools have to begin a transition to Estonian as a language of instruction. By that time the school system and the national curriculum should guarantee that all graduates of basic school (forms 1–9) have the Estonian competence enabling them to continue their education in Estonian. The stipulated change of the language of tuition is necessary to improve the Estonian competence of the pupils of Russian-medium schools, thus fostering their integration in the Estonian community. Of all pupils of Estonia 23% attend Russian-medium schools. Most of them (ca 80%) live in Tallinn or Eastern-Virumaa. The number of children directly affected by the school reform of 2007, i.e. the total number of pupils in Russian-medium grade schools today is 32510. According to the national curriculum, Russian-medium schools teach all subjects in Russian, while Estonian is taught as an obligatory first foreign language from the first form on. Such a segregative programme, however, does not enable a satisfactory Estonian competence. The national curriculum overlooks the fact that the necessary competence level cannot be attained without bilingual training in grade school. Thus, to improve the results of Estonian teaching a new, bilingually-oriented alternative approach called language immersion was adopted in 2000, drawing on Canadian and Finnish experience. About 4% of the pupils of Russian grade schools are involved. For them, at least half of the teaching takes place in Estonian. In their parents' opinion this is the best choice available. Unfortunately this does not concern the 2007 reform, as by that time around a mere hundred or so of "immersed" pupils will have finished grade school. A number of schools have, on their own initative, included one or more Estonian-medium subjects in their curricula. The choice, however, has been occasional, without considering linguistic efficiency. Evidently for the sake of simplicity, the most frequently chosen subjects are music, handicrafts, gymnastics, and drawing. The teachers of Russian schools believe that a uniform level of Estonian competence could be achieved only in case unambiguous and equally obligatory programmes were enforced for all schools. The conclusion of the article reads that most of the Russian-medium schools are not sufficiently prepared for the 2007 reform. The main reason lies in the fact that the stipulated transition has not been shaped by state organs.

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