Estonia’s large Russian-speaking minority used to be taught in Russian. The government has responded to Russia’s invasion with a reform to end this. Now, lessons will only be taught in Estonian.
Estonia’s large Russian-speaking minority used to be taught in Russian. The government has responded to Russia’s invasion with a reform to end this. Now, lessons will only be taught in Estonian.
This is not about having Estonian language classes for them, it is about putting them in classrooms for all subjects in a language they don’t speak.
Their families have had eighty fucking years to learn Estonian. What makes you think that “further accomodation” in Russian will give them any desire or impetus to learn the language?
Why punish children for things their parents and grandparents did?
Why punish the rest of Estonian society? Why continue to isolate children who can’t speak the local language?
How is the rest of Estonian society punished if children are not forced into classes taught in a language they don’t speak? And sure the previous isolation was also bad, but at least they were able to learn something.
Honestly… the amount of people here arguing like the children deserve any of this is very sad. Reminds me of Israelis arguing the Palestinian children deserve what is happening in Gaza. Are you even listening to yourself?
Society is punished by remaining divided.
I understand your frustration. I don’t think anyone believes that the children deserve this; only that it’s the least harmful way to solve a problem that the Russians created. There’s a big difference between the two.
If there were a better, faster, less disruptive option, we would be in favor of that.
If the children don’t adapt, you’re simply replicating the mistakes of the past into the future. And every generation of kids has to learn and adapt to things their parents and grandparents never considered. My great-great-grandparents never dealt with car traffic. My great-grandparents never dealt with the threat of nuclear weapons. My grandparents never dealt with computers. My parents never dealt with school shootings. Change - both good and bad - happens.
I think that’s a great way to learn the language though. Exposure drives learning a language.
Learning it as a foreign language is much less efficient than learning it in all areas.
They may need more support given no support at home. Still, seems like a big plus to me.
You are waaaaay too optimistic about this, and honestly given how this is ideologically driven as a knee jerk reaction I have my doubts that the teachers and school administrators will try their best to help these children.