Education

According to the National Integration Programme, the Estonian education system is one of the weight-carrying pillars of integration. The Estonian school has the duty of making society’s development goals and the cultural environment familiar to students of all nationalities, to broaden individuals’ understanding of other cultures, and to find and extend forms and ways of cultural communication between the various nationality groups. The school also has the duty of teaching good Estonian to young people of other nationalities.

The education sub-programme of the integration programme has the following objectives:

• Students leaving basic school are socially competent and have medium command of the Estonian language.
• Students leaving secondary school have the language skills necessary for communication in everyday situations and at work; they are able to study in Estonia.

Another objective is to prepare teachers for work with multi-language and multi-cultural classes and to supply Estonian-focused textbooks and teaching materials for all levels of school.

At the same time, the state supports ethnic minorities in promoting education and culture in their mother tongues and in the preparation of pedagogical staff. Financial and moral support is granted for national minorities’ Sunday schools operating in national culture societies, which teach national minorities’ languages, culture, and history.