AUGUST 2011

In August, invitations to tender will be issued, during which the Integration and Migration Foundation Our People (MISA) will initiate a search for people to carry out Estonian language training for employees in the public sector and supplementary Estonian language instruction for students at the higher education level. 

 

The invitations to tender will be presented within the framework of the “Supplementary Language Instruction of Students at the Higher Education Level” activities of the Language Development 2011–2013 programme financed by the European Social Fund.  The goal of the programme is to provide additional instruction in the Estonian language to Estonian students whose native language is not Estonian during their studies at schools of higher education, in order to develop their academic and professional Estonian-language skills. Within the framework of the “Language Instruction for Public Sector Employees” activities, support is provided for language instruction for adults living in Estonia whose native language is not Estonian and to ensure a level of language skills that is needed to be able to cope in daily life and at work. 

 

Both students at schools of higher education and employees at public sector institutions can study Estonian based on programmes compiled at the initiative of the institutions or schools of higher education.

 

During the 2011/2012 academic year, almost 500 students and more than 600 employees of 28 public sector institutions will receive specific Estonian language instruction that is based on the particularities of their areas of specialisation and needs.

 

According to Eduard Odinets, Head of the MISA Lifelong Education Unit, experiences to date show that participants receive more help of such specialised courses that are directed at a very narrow target group, than for ordinary training that is intended for broader target groups. Odinets said that recently the trend in teaching the official language to adults has been to favour custom-tailored work over mass production, so that suitable opportunities are found for each client.

 

This type of instruction ensures greater participation and dedication on the part of the students, as recommendations are made mostly at the initiative of the institution’s employees and the courses usually take place at the institution. The dedication and motivation of the people participating in language studies is also demonstrated by the fact that most of the participants have set a goal of taking language proficiency exams in Estonian. 

 

“In regard to the proposals from the schools of higher education, I am pleased to see that training visits to other schools of higher education or institutions in the same field have been skilfully integrated into traditional language instruction, with the goal of language and specialised instruction. This active short and long-term language training is beneficial in several ways; for example, in addition to language skills and specialised vocabulary, students also acquire practical skills in their chosen field,” Odinets explained. 

 

The invitation to tender for students at schools of higher education and employees at public institutions will be issued in mid-August at the latest. The invitations will be published on the MISA website: www.meis.ee.

 

For further information, please contact: Jana Tondi, Lifelong Education Unit, tel 659 9069, e-mail jana.tondi@meis.ee

Supplementary language instruction will start for students vocational and adult upper secondary schools

 

The Integration and Migration Foundation Our People (MISA) organised a round of proposals for the organisation of supplementary language instruction for students at vocation education institutions and adult upper secondary schools, based on which MISA will organise the preparation of programmes to introduce Estonian culture,     training visits to various Estonian counties, practical training in Estonian-language work environments, student exchange programmes, intensive support instruction, compilation of teaching materials, and popularisation of teaching methods that increase motivation for language studies.

 

For example, the development of coping competences in the language and cultural space will also be supported, as well as education related to intercultural differences, intercultural education and the understanding of Estonian culture through other cultures.   

 

Supplementary Estonian language instruction will be organised in the 2011/2012 academic year in eight vocational education institutions and two adult upper secondary schools.

The first round of proposals carried out in order to organise the supplementary language instruction for students at vocation education institutions and adult upper secondary schools within the framework of the Language Development 2011–2013 programme financed by the European Social Fund received proposals from three adult upper secondary schools and 19 vocational education institutions.

 

Based on the proposals received from the adult upper secondary schools and vocational education institutions, supplementary language instruction will be organised for students with native languages other than Estonian, who are studying in vocational education groups with Estonian-language instruction or Russian-language vocational education groups with partial Estonian-language instruction.     

 

The language instruction will be organised in addition to instruction financed within the framework of state-commissioned education and the national curriculum.

 

For further information, please contact: Reet Kallo, Lifelong Education Unit, tel 659 9841, e-mail reet.kallo@meis.ee

 

 

With the support of the Integration and Migration Foundation Our People (MISA),  twelve upper secondary schools in East-Viru County and Harju County that are transitioning to Estonian-language subject study will receive over 36,000 euros in order to support the acclimation of students coming for Russian-language basic schools to Estonian-language instruction.

“More generally, the activities of the schools can be divided in two – acclimation camps and opportunity courses will take place. The goal of the acclimation camps is to activate the students’ Estonian language skills and to develop positive attitudes toward studying in Estonian. The opportunity courses create a sense of security for students and prevent the decline of motivation or educational success,” Natalia Reppo, Coordinator of the MISA Language Immersion Unit, explained.  

For example, the schools use the grants for travelling from East-Viru County to South-Estonia or Harju County, to organise excursions, visits to museums and theatres, for cooperation with Estonian-language schools and their students, for conducting study trips with Estonian-language guides, for adventure games, meetings with Estonian cultural and community leaders, etc. Foreign volunteers who are in Estonia are invited to the schools to talk about coping in a strange language environment, photo exhibitions are organised along with other creative activities and competitions.

According to Reppo, the project competition does not support strict grading, but encourages young people to communicate and instead of receiving grades the students keep self-analytical diaries in order to assess their own success and contributions to the studies. 

The project competition titled “Support for the Introduction of Partial Estonian-Language Subject Study” is financed by the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research based on the implementation plan for the development plan related to this field of activity titled “Estonian Integration Plan 2008–2013”.

 

More information about the schools that have received grants and the project competition is available on the MISA website. 

Participate in the information day for the project competition titled “Courses – Estonian Language and Citizenship”

The Integration and Migration Foundation Our People (MISA) announced a project competition entitled “Courses – Estonian Language and Citizenship”, the goal of which is to help third-country nationals and people with undetermined citizenship that live in Estonia to get involved and integrated into Estonian society.  

 

The information day to introduce the competition will take place on 2 August at the Integration and Migration Foundation Our People (MISA) (Liimi 1, Tallinn) from 1 pm to 3 pm.

Please notify Tea Tammistu, Coordinator of the MISA Civic Education and Migration Unit, of your wish to participate in the information day by sending an e-mail to tea.tammistu@meis.ee.

 

With the support of the European Fund for the Integration of Third-country Nationals and the Ministry of Culture, the MISA will intermediate 240,910 euros, in order to facilitate the better acclimation of the target group in Estonian society through language courses and courses on the Citizenship Act. 

 

The competition guidelines and other necessary information are available here.

MISA is now also active in Facebook  

All interested parties can get current information and keep themselves updated with the activities of the Integration and Migration Foundation Our People (MISA) on Facebook.

 

The Facebook page includes both the newest topical thoughts and news as well as interesting articles, references and recollections of accomplishments (for example, you can find out about MISA’s previous advertising campaigns, to be updated on projects financed by MISA, etc.).

 

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