The Ministry of Education wants to make studying Võru, Setu, Mulgi and other regional dialects more accessible in schools. Under the new legislation, students would be able to replace the second compulsory foreign language, which is introduced around grade 7, with the study of a regional variety of Estonian.

The change primarily concerns schools located in the historical areas of the Võru, Setu, Mulgi, Tartu, Saare, Kihnu, Muhu, Hiiu, Kodavere, Kuusalu, Lüganuse and Jõhvi language varieties. There are approximately 155 basic schools in these regions.

The new rules will only apply to schools located in areas where regional varieties of Estonian have developed historically. Around 15-20 general education schools in Estonia currently offer dialect instruction, most of them small rural schools.

Under the new draft legislation, if at least 10 children want to study their regional language, parents have the right to request that the school provide it.

However, several points in the ministry's draft have raised questions within the Estonian Union of Student Councils.

The union's chairman, Karl Erik Kirss, has told Minister of Education Kristina Kallas that dialect instruction should not come at the expense of students' free time and well-being. The union has repeatedly raised concerns about pupils' heavy workload and how it can affect mental and physical health.

The union believes extra lessons could create resentment towards dialect students, that schools may struggle to find funding or hire language teachers, and that the requirements are too high for small schools in rural areas.

"In the case of very small schools, the requirement for 10 parents to express their wish may be too rigid, because if even a couple of parents do not want it, those who have expressed their wish will also lose the opportunity, as 10 requests cannot be collected," Kirss pointed out.

He said this rule should be replaced with a proportional system.

Another proposal was creating more opportunities for dialact language lessons in bigger towns and cities, as young people often relocate for school. For example, from Kihnu island to Pärnu or Setomaa to Tartu. This would stop young people from losing their connection to their home region.

School leaders prefer elective subjects

The Estonian Association of School Leaders believes the teaching of dialects and local culture does not need to be governed by several pieces of legislation. Instead, dialect language lessons should be electives and made through agreements with the local community.

"It may happen that, with different legal acts, the overall picture is lost, and difficulties may emerge later that could have been avoided," explained Karin Lukk, deputy chair of the Association of School Leaders.

School leaders were also against increasing students' workload. They said a balance needs to be found between introducing new legislation and retaining the current curriculum. Alternatively, dialect lessons could be treated as extracurricular education.

It is also unclear in the draft whether a request from students would make the instruction compulsory for all students at that school, the association pointed out.

In addition, it said the draft raises the question of what consequences an agreement to teach a dialect in primary or basic school would have for the next level of education.

Language Council: Funding needs to be addressed

The Estonian Language Council expressed similar concerns about continuing education and called for clarification.

"If foreign language instruction in upper secondary school presupposes previous language skills, these students may encounter difficulties. Before implementing the change, consideration must be given to how to enable them to begin studying a second foreign language at a beginner level and prevent them from being placed at a disadvantage when applying to upper secondary school and continuing their studies," said Language Council Chair Birute Klaas.

Clarity is also needed on who will organize and fund the classes. The council said this must not depend on the resources of a particular school or family. It also highlighted that qualified teachers, teaching materials and methodological support will be required.

It said this information should also be included in the explanatory memorandum, as wel as analysis of how replacing the B-foreign language would affect students' further education.

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