Estonian FM disagrees with UN experts that Estonian-language education would violate minorities' rights
TALLINN. Aug 18 (Interfax) - Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna has expressed his disagreement with the opinion of United Nations special rapporteurs that a transition to Estonian-language education might violate the rights of ethnic minorities.
"Estonia has been preparing the transition to Estonian-language instruction in schools for a long time in order to offer all children, regardless of their mother tongue, the opportunity to receive high-quality education in Estonian, provide uniform opportunities on the labor market, and improve the cohesion of society," Tsahkna said in a commentary circulated by the Estonian Foreign Ministry on Friday.
"There is no reason to link a transition to Estonian-language education, which is part of the integration policy, with human rights guarantees. Estonia supports opportunities for minorities to study in their native language, as well as cultural diversity in general," he said.
Estonia has joined international human rights conventions and is honoring its obligations, Tsahkna said. He vowed to respond to the UN experts' statement "within the agreed time."
The Office of the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights (UNCHR) issued a statement on Thursday, saying that "the new law severely restricts minority language education in Estonia, in contravention of international human rights instruments."
The UN experts expressed particular concern about how the new legislation would affect the Russian-language minority, which makes 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," the statement says.
On December 19, 2022, Estonian President Alar Karis approved amendments to the law on elementary and secondary schools and other laws, under which schools providing instruction in Russian would have to switch to Estonian.
The legislative amendments stipulate that kindergartens and elementary schools (grades 1 to 4) will have to switch to Estonian-language instruction in the 2024-2025 academic year. High schools will have to ensure transition to Estonian-language education in the 10th grade no later than in the 2030-2031 academic year, in the 11th grade no later than in the 2031-2032 academic year, and in the 12th grade no later than in the 2032-2033 academic year.
In Estonia, where about 25% of the population make up the Russian-speaking minority, children can still receive instruction in their mother tongue at schools for minorities up to the 9th grade. In high schools for minorities, over 60% of disciplines are taught in the official (Estonian) language and about 40% in Russian.
Campaigners for Russian-language school instruction have protested against the education language policy in Estonia. While meeting with representatives of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) High Commissioner on National Minorities in November 2021, representatives of the Russian School of Estonia nongovernmental organization called for returning OSCE permanent missions to Estonia and Latvia to monitor the situation surrounding Russian-language education there.