Kiri


Joint discipline of language of the
Supporting Social Inclusion Programme (SSIP)



Question 1:
On 17th of August 2023, UN human rights experts1 expressed grave concern about new legislation that appears to eliminate minority language education in Estonia. “Recent legislative amendments appear to severely restrict education in Estonia’s minority languages by making the transition to Estonian-language education compulsory for all pre-school and school institutions, including those operating in a minority language or bilingual institutions,” the UN experts said.

The “Act on Amendments to the Basic School and Gymnasium Act and Other Acts (Transition to Estonian-Language Education)”, adopted by the Estonian Parliament on 12 December 2022, introduces restrictive and potentially discriminatory measures affecting the rights of ethnic and linguistic minorities in education.

The legislation reportedly allows “language and cultural studies” for minority children whose mother tongue or native language is not Estonian only under certain conditions, as part of these specific classes and for a short period of time.

“In other words, minority language has been effectively eliminated as a medium of instruction,” the UN experts said.

They expressed particular concern about how the new provisions could affect members of the Russian linguistic minority, who make up a significant proportion of the country’s population. Despite protests from Russian-speaking parents and children, a number of Russian-language schools have reportedly been closed in recent years.

“By eliminating minority language instruction in pre-schools and schools, the new law severely restricts minority language education in Estonia, in contravention of international human rights instruments,” the experts said.

Is SIIP violating international human rights in this regard? Is the Russian linguistic minority not allowed to learn Russian in (Basic) Schools anymore? Are minority rights protected in the programme?
Reply 1:
Estonian language of instruction offers all children the opportunity to acquire quality education in Estonian, creates uniform opportunities on the labour market and increases the cohesion of society.

Estonian language of instruction has begun in pre-primary education and in 1st and 4th grades. This is the final step in a long and gradual process that was set in motion after Estonia regained its independence on 20 August 1991 and will be completed by 2030.

The results of the OECD PISA 2022 (and 2018) study show that knowledge and skills of Estonian children are at the absolute top in Europe and in the top eight in the world. And yet, students with Russian language of instruction score on average one school year behind the students with Estonian language of instruction. The gap is also evident in national school examination results.

In recent years, it can be clearly seen that the number of students with a mother tongue other than Estonian is increasing in Estonian-language educational institutions.

Estonia is strongly committed to continue its support to ethnic minority groups. As a result of this reform the opportunities of children and youth from non-Estonian speaking communities to develop their linguistic and cultural identity will not decrease. The schools will provide language and culture education for children with a different mother tongue in primary school to ensure the development of mother tongue skills. In order to better protect minority rights, the Estonian Government adopted in August 2024 the regulation on the conditions of and procedure for language and cultural teaching. According to the regulation, a school must organise native language and cultural teaching for students whose native language is not Estonian if at least ten students with the same native language request it.

The state supports the activities of hobby schools of national cultural societies, whose activities are related to the preservation and development of the language and culture of national minorities, by providing operational support. Recognising the importance of cultural and infospheres, the state also supports cultural activities and Russian language outlets of Estonian media channels.

It is necessary to add, that all interested ethnic minority groups and individuals have been able to participate in various stages of transitional process over the years, from policy making and implementation levels to specific decision-making at governmental and municipal levels. The education reform has therefore over the decades offered ample opportunities to the minorities to participate in the dialogue with municipal and state authorities and voice their views and concerns, as well as challenge the state and municipal policy and actions.

The SSIP aims at improving opportunities for people living in Estonia, especially people from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds to participate more actively in Estonian society, thus reducing socio-economic disparities, addressing systemic inequalities, and empowering marginalized groups.


Question 2: How are the minority rights protected? How far is the new policy endangering them?
Reply 2:
Same answer as to question 1.


Question 3: How is multiculturalism guaranteed in the programme?
Reply 3:
The main aim of the Programme is to improve the opportunities for people living in Estonia, especially people from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds, to participate more actively in Estonian society. The same aim is set in several Estonian national strategic documents, including Cohesive Estonia Strategy 2030. The strategy sets an objective of a cohesive and inclusive society where people, among other things, feel a sense of unity, irrespective of their native language, cultural background or place of residence; where people actively participate in community and social activities and contribute to the development of the state.
Estonia has been a culturally diverse country since early days, and it is growing even more diverse being influenced by global trends. The most significant development regarding immigration to Estonia in the latest years has been without doubt the arrival of numerous war refugees from Ukraine. However, people of at least 217 nationalities live in Estonia, and the multicultural nature of society is not a new aspect to deal with. Additionally, Estonia has a long history of integration research which provides a long-term perspective on the issues that arise in multicultural society, including in the fields of early and long-term integration, language skills, shared values and other aspects that contribute to societal cohesion. The research shows the areas of noteworthy improvement as well as challenges that need addressing, and current Programme is of great value as it provides support in key areas that need specific attention at this time.

Some of the challenges of social inclusion and aspects of inequality existing in the Estonian society that will be addressed by the activities are as follows:
• 59% (approximately 240 thousand) of permanent residents with non-Estonian origin and 84% (approximately 20 thousand) of new immigrants do not have Estonian language skills sufficient to have a good range of social and educational opportunities, employment prospects. Lacking Estonian language skills also contributes to difficulties in understanding and participating in cultural and political life.
• Lack of interaction and communication between different ethnical groups which is partly caused by ethnically homogeneous living areas in Ida-Viru County and Harju County (incl. some parts of Tallinn).
• As defined by Estonian language skills, media spaces of Estonians and people of other ethnicities tend to differ, which may result in different attitudes and values.
• Social sector must adapt in order to be able to accommodate war refugees from Ukraine who have arrived in Estonia, but also other refugees and new immigrants, in terms of skills to work with them, provide relevant services, and to integrate them into the labour market.

In line with the above, the SSIP’s approach is to introduce people from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds to the Estonian cultural space. According to all integration monitoring surveys carried out in Estonia, proficiency in Estonian as the official language provides the opportunity for free self-realisation: it is possible to receive the best education, to work in any field of life and to participate in politics. But we also support activities related to the introduction of cultural diversity. For example, through joint activities (so-called "joint activities in the communities"), the cultural richness of Estonia, brought by representatives of different nationalities, will be introduced.

Question 4: The Estonian government has agreed that each ministry must cut 10% of the budget in its area of ​​government. In this context, how is it ensured that the field of integration (including the reform of the transition to Estonian-language education) will receive enough resources?
Reply 4:
The whole Estonian state has a complicated task of reducing budgets in every area. Each ministry must cut 10% of the budget in its area of ​​government in the next three years.

Yet, Estonia has clearly become a destination country in terms of international migration, so the next years will also see new people arriving to settle here. We have to be prepared to support people with very different cultural and linguistic background while working with the whole society to provide general understanding and support for integration processes. From early integration of new immigrants and their general inclusion in society, cultural space, labour market; to support provided to permanent residents, Russian speaking as well as with other background; to maintaining general awareness of the whole society as well as cohesion, all these strands of work need resources. What looks like a soft societal topic at first glance, is rather closely connected to the issues of resilience and national security.

In 2025, the support of umbrella organizations of national minorities and the support of projects of cultural societies of national minorities will remain the same, the support of cultural and sports activities promoting integration will also remain the same, and the support of native language and cultural education of young Ukrainian war refugees will remain the same. Such choices were made based on actual support trends and general needs. However, it must be recognized - in the following years, difficult, but necessary decisions will have to be made regarding the state budget. It is inevitable in the current situation.

Given all that, Switzerland's support is both timely and thematically well-positioned to have a meaningful impact.

Question 5: The Estonian government has agreed that each ministry must cut 10% of the budget in its area of ​​government. Why does the Estonian state contribute another 3.5 million euros to integration in a difficult time, when there are already tens of millions in the field anyway? Can't you cut it from here?
Reply 5:
The need for certain services and measures in the field of integration has been consistently higher than the resources available, yet it is one of the strategic areas that are identified in the national level strategies. It is also the area that has direct impact on the society which has to remain ever more cohesive and resilient in difficult times. We are very grateful to Switzerland for the resources that are being provided to support our work in the field. It is a very important investment into our society, the state co-funding (3.5 million euros) is imperative to be able to use this valuable resource.

Question 6: How is the SSIP supporting the language reform?
Reply 6:
The SSIP plays very important role in the language reform process in Estonia by addressing gaps in the support system for both parents and educators. The SSIP aims to raise parents' awareness of the opportunities and challenges of a multilingual and multicultural learning environment, helping them to more effectively support their children's learning and adaptation, and promote the integration of parents with a native language other than Estonian into Estonian society through a more informed approach to their children's educational journey.

Furthermore, SSIP also assists higher education institutions in enhancing their training programmes. This includes preparation of educators for multilingual and culturally diverse environments, which are critical for the success of the language reform across all levels of education.

Question 7: Which languages is the state supporting? Russian, Ukrainian, others? Are there criteria or conditions in place for making the decisions about what languages will be supported by the state?
Reply 7:
217 nationalities are represented in Estonia and approximately 260 different mother tongues are spoken. Russians are the largest ethnic group, followed by Ukrainians, Belarusians, and Finns. The rights of national minorities are protected by law and international treaties.
National minorities living in Estonia are actively involved in preserving their culture and traditions – about 250 cultural associations are active here. The state supports minority organisations in preserving, learning, and promoting their mother tongue and culture. The preservation and development of minority languages and cultures is also supported by local governments, private foundations, and embassies.

The Ministry of Culture grants an operating grant for umbrella organisations of national minorities and a project grant for cultural associations. The operating grant aims to promote the cultural diversity of national minorities in Estonian society strengthening Estonian culture, enhance cooperation between minority umbrella organizations and local communities, increase their sustainability and administrative capacity, and promote national cultures and heritage through events and initiatives. Some 17 umbrella organisations representing over 260 national minority cultural associations receive operating grants each year. In addition to operating grants, the projects of national minority cultural associations are supported which aim to contribute to the preservation and promotion of the language and culture of national minorities in Estonia, to support the organisation of events of national minority cultural associations, to ensure the continuity of traditional festivals, to cooperate with other cultural organisations in Estonia and to provide a common information space. Between 20 and 30 cultural associations receive grants per year.

Also, Ministry of Education and Research provides operating grants to support the activities of national cultural societies’ hobby schools that are related to the preservation and development of the language and culture of national minorities.
All these different types of grants are available to all minority groups. The state does not specifically prioritise any particular languages, but supports any language spoken by minorities.
More information about supporting the culture of national minorities can be found in Article 5 of Estonia’s sixth report on the implementation of the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.