Draft would let pupils study local dialects instead of a second foreign language

A draft law would allow Estonian pupils to study a regional form of Estonian instead of taking lessons in a second foreign language, ERR reports. The Education Ministry says the change could substantially expand access to Võro, Seto, Mulgi and other local languages from the next school year.

Under the proposal, parents could ask a school to teach the local language if at least 10 children in the area want to learn it. Parents at schools that already offer dialect classes would not need to submit new requests. Local language and culture could be taught as an elective, or studied in depth as a second foreign language. Detailed rules would be set after the law is passed.

Education Minister Kristina Kallas said the change would give local-language speakers rights comparable to those already available to children whose mother tongue is Russian or Ukrainian, who can ask their school for two hours of mother-tongue lessons a week. “For the sake of children’s linguistic development and the development of Estonian culture, this right needs to be made equal,” Kallas told ERR.

About 15 to 20 Estonian schools, mostly small rural schools, currently teach regional languages, usually for only a few hours a week. The draft’s explanatory note says the proposal was driven mainly by speakers of South Estonian dialects, who consider existing protections for regional forms of Estonian insufficient.

The ministry also says demographic changes have reduced the number of small schools, with pupils moving to larger schools in regional centres. There, dialect lessons can be lost among other interests and activities, making it harder for pupils who want to study them to get attention. The proposed right would let parents request lessons without having to reach agreements that reflect the wishes of all families at a school.

Jaak Israel, head of August Kitzberg Gymnasium in Viljandi County, called the proposal a valuable initiative. The school offers an elective course in Mulgi language and culture to its upper-secondary pupils and has applied for ministry support to teach local languages. Israel said the school hopes to use that support to introduce Mulgi lessons in its primary grades, replacing one Estonian-language lesson.

Three pupils are currently taking the Mulgi elective, Israel said, although enrolment has sometimes been higher. One year, the school opened a group for just one pupil. “We cannot let this opportunity pass us by,” he said, adding that schools should make the opportunity available even when only one pupil is interested if they want Mulgi language and culture to survive in the region.