The Estonian authorities have approved an action plan for the transition to Estonian-language education until 2030, Minister of Education and Science of the country Tõnis Lukas said on the air of the Estonian television channel ERR.
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According to him, in order to implement the plan, the country’s higher education institutions will increase the number of places for training teachers to teach in Estonian, as well as provide for more flexible forms of education.
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In addition, educational workers will be offered to attend language courses and teachers will be financially motivated to stay at work.
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Thus, the minister noted, from September 2023, a minimum wage coefficient of 1.5 will be introduced for all teachers of the Estonian county of Ida-Virumaa who teach in the national language, and 1.3 for kindergarten teachers.
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It is noted that the transition to education in the state language will begin in the academic year 2024/25, when kindergartens, as well as students of the first and fourth grades of general education schools, will switch to Estonian. The full transition to Estonian-language education will be completed by the beginning of the 2029/30 academic year.
