UN considers Estonian law on education to violate human rights

The Office of the UN Commissioner for Human Rights considered the Estonian standards, which provide for the restriction of education in Russian, contrary to international human rights treaties. The corresponding statement was published on the website of the department. The document was signed by three UN special rapporteurs on minority issues, cultural rights and education.

The document states that the amendments to the legislation on education made in December 2022 will effectively eliminate education in Estonian minority languages. They make it mandatory for all preschool and school institutions to switch to Estonian.

In addition, the UN management expressed concern about how the education reform will affect the Russian-speaking population of the country. “Despite the protests of Russian-speaking parents and children, a number of Russian-language schools have reportedly been closed in recent years. By abolishing teaching in minority languages ​​in pre-schools and schools, the new law seriously restricts education in minority languages ​​in Estonia, which is contrary to international human rights documents,” said the UN Special Rapporteurs.

On December 12, 2022, the Estonian parliament voted by a majority to support a law establishing the procedure for translating the entire education system in the country into Estonian. From 2024 to 2025, kindergartens and elementary grades of schools will switch to Estonian, and until 2029-2030. the share of lessons in the state language will have to reach at least 60%.

Also, from 2024, teachers will be required to have knowledge of the state language at the C1 level, and they will be able to “carry out educational and educational activities in a language other than Estonian” only with the permission of the government. The full transition of school education to Estonian is planned for 2030-2031. At the same time, the Estonian state radio ERR reported that since August 1, fines for Russian schools with teachers who do not speak Estonian have been increased 15 times to almost 10,000 euros.

The new statement will not change anything, says Alexander Nosovich, editor-in-chief of the analytical portal RuBaltic.Ru. International organizations, including both official associations of states and respected private human rights organizations, regularly criticize the Baltic states for violating human rights.

Criticism of the Baltics concerns many aspects: the right to speak and study in Russian for children (from Russian families, for whom Russian is their native language); voting rights, in which part of the population of Estonia and Latvia are limited; the existence of the institution of “non-citizenship”, etc. Criticism of the Baltic states was even heard from the European Union, to which these countries are members and on which they are economically dependent, adds Nosovich.

Despite this, the Baltic States consistently ignore all such comments, which in essence are only advisory in nature. Representatives of the Baltic states have repeatedly stated that experts from the UN or other international organizations “do not understand the specifics of the region.” It will be exactly the same now, concludes Nosovich.