TÕNIS LUKAS ⟩ The switch to Estonian-language education can no longer be postponed.

Tõnis Lukas Photo: Eero Vabamägi

• The administrative language of schools is Estonian, navigating the administration takes proficiency.
• That many teachers not having attached importance to Estonian set a poor example to pupils.
• The government is making concessions to those who continuously consider the language unnecessary.

The new Kristen Michal government decided today to postpone the requirement to meet the Estonian language proficiency requirements for teachers in schools transitioning to Estonian-language learning. This is a very wrong step and should not have been taken, writes Tõnis Lukas (Isamaa), a member of the Riigikogu.

Back at the turn of the millennium, Mart Laar's second government established language requirements for teachers stipulating that teachers teaching in languages other than Estonian must have intermediate level proficiency in Estonian. In 2008, when Isamaa once again was in charge of the government's language policy, this requirement was reiterated in a government regulation and set at the B2 level.

So all teachers in Russian schools have known already for 24 years that they must have intermediate level proficiency in Estonian to continue in the profession, and already for 16 years they have known that the specific exam required is the B2 level exam. To claim that this only became known in late 2022, when, again at the initiative of Isamaa, a full transition to Estonian-language education was written into law, is incorrect.

With the law on the transition, we simply included the language requirement, which was already in force, among the qualification requirements – until then these had been separate requirements. That is, in Estonia, a person could be a school teacher without being proficient in Estonian, because it was still not part of the qualifications required for a teacher, and school administrations and local governments simply overlooked the separate language requirement. Now this can no longer be the case – if you are not fully qualified, you will lose your job.

So all teachers in Russian schools have known already for 24 years that they must have intermediate level proficiency in Estonian to continue in the profession

Let me reiterate why it is necessary for all teachers, including those who will continue teaching in Russian for a few more years, to have at least intermediate proficiency in Estonian. Firstly, for pupils' safety – teachers must be able to understand Estonian-language information in emergency situations.

Secondly, to stay informed about society's functioning and be able to navigate the Estonian information space. Thirdly, to participate in Estonian-language professional development courses. Fourthly, because the administrative language of schools is Estonian, and being able to navigate and participate in school administration requires proficiency in the language.

To add to this is the impact of a lax attitude towards the Estonian language on pupils. That many teachers in Russian schools have not attached importance to Estonian set a poor example to pupils and is a major factor in keeping the results of the final examinations in the official language of non-Estonian-medium basic schools at a truly disastrous level, with less than half of pupils able to pass at any normal level.

The addition of the language requirement to the qualification requirements has also been essential in the context of the transition to Estonian language schooling as a whole, as it gives school leaders the opportunity to free up jobs for qualified teachers, whom they have not been able to look for earlier because there was no legal basis for getting rid of teachers who are not proficient in the official language. By postponing the deadline for complying with the language requirement, the government is turning this logic on its head and providing a basis for unqualified teachers to hold on to their jobs, while tying the hands of school leaders when it comes to HR management.

Instead of appreciating the efforts of those teachers and school leaders who have been ambitious and demanding, the government is making concessions to those who have continued to consider it unnecessary to acquire a decent proficiency in the official language – this is unfair and disrespectful to those who have been ambitious and to the school leaders who have been more demanding than perhaps some others. The government's complacency towards those who systematically fail to comply with national requirements undermines the credibility of the transition to Estonian-language schooling and of the Estonian state as a whole among the non-Estonian population.