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The Presidential Roundtable discussed educational issues15.12.2005
The Presidential Roundtable on National Minorities convened today at Kadriorg for a session that was chaired by the Head of State to discuss preparations for transition of Russian-language gymnasiums to Estonian language of instruction in 2007.
Minister Mailis Reps informed the Roundtable about the work done by the Ministry of Education and Research in that respect. The participants in the discussion were interested to find out to what extent the readiness of teachers for transition and their need for training and retraining has been taken into account.
The President of the Republic noted that it is necessary to consider also individual people and to avoid inflexible solutions. While the number of students continues to decrease and also during this reorganisation some teachers may lose their jobs. President Rüütel deemed it important to offer those teachers a possibility to work with children at support units.
According to the assessment of the Roundtable's participants, there is too little information available on the planned transition, and this causes unreasonable opinions and even fear. It also was stated that the topic is too politicised, and that it should not be dependent on elections or change of government. The participants in the discussion wished that the curricula in Estonian schools were unified and would take into account the society's multiculturalism. Minister of Education called upon the members of the Roundtable to participate in the discussion on the curriculum for general education schools, which will be the topic of the next meeting of the Roundtable next month.
Public Relations Unit of the Office of the President
Kadriorg, December 15, 2005
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