Estonian member of parliament Urmas Reinsalu of the Isamaa party recently announced that the coalition government had reached an agreement that the transition to Estonian-language education at all levels must be set out in law, according to the Postimees. Reinsalu said there was an in-depth discussion on the so-called three pillars in relation to Estonian-language education. “We came to the joint conclusion that the transition to Estonian-language education at all levels of education must be laid down by law, and that the transition period, or preparatory phase, must begin this year, with a law and action plan to be adopted this autumn,” the former minister of defense, minister of justice, and minister of foreign affairs said.
According to Reinsalu, turning Russian-medium schools into Estonian requires teacher motivation, increased teacher training, and additional support to both schools and preschool institutions.
“Our understanding definitely is that in the future we will undoubtedly reach the point where there are no Russian-language schools in Estonia. But we certainly don’t want to make any precepts or restrictions to parents concerning the choices of the educational journey, in terms of the choice of a particular school,” Reinsalu added.
