Culture, Education and Science, Estonia, Legislation
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Thursday, 18.04.2024, 01:28
Estonia supports 22 national minority Sunday schools in autumn
As the result of the round of applications for the base financing of national minority Sunday schools that were announced, the activities of Ukrainian, Russian, Azeri, Latvian, Georgian, Ingrian-Finnish, Tatar and Armenian Sunday schools will be financed during the 2015-2016 academic year. Most of the schools are based in Tallinn, but there are also schools in Pärnu, Loksa, Tartu, Viljandi, Maardu, Tapa, Valga, Jõhvi and Sillamäe.
“National minority Sunday schools are places at which kids can learn the language of older generations of their family and find out about the traditions of the people and places they represent,” explained Irene Käosaar, the director of the General Education Department of the Ministry of Education and Research. “Younger kids and teenagers often never get the chance to study the language and culture of the places their forefathers came from, so Sunday schools are somewhere they can get in touch with their roots and maintain their family traditions.” Käosaar added that Sunday schools play an important role in society, since in addition to language and culture studies they also provide the children with high-quality recreational activities that contribute to their development and foster tolerance.
A second round of applications for the base financing of national minority Sunday schools is to be launched in late August or early September. This round will be aimed at schools that did not receive funding in the first round. The state has been supporting the activities of such Sunday schools since 2004.