Expat Estonians began their summer camps in Estonia
MISA has offered family tutoring to non-Estonian youths for the past 15 years
Funding for projects dealing with citizenship awareness and tolerance approved
MISA allocated nearly 198,000 euros for supporting minority cultures
A survey on the effect of language skill development programmes now available
Expat Estonians began their summer camps in Estonia
On 26 June, the summer camps of language and cultural studies for young people of Estonian origin living abroad began, with the Integration and Migration Foundation Our People (MISA) supporting the camps for the past thirteen years.
In the three summer camps taking place this year, 66 young people from various states are participating: Ireland, Scotland, Denmark, Sweden, USA, Finland, Belgium, France, Canada, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Hungary, Germany, Egypt, Mexico, England, and Italy. In addition, the camp participants include young native speakers living in Estonia, who act as support students.
The camp exchanges take place from 26 June to 6 July at the Merelaiu Holiday Centre, from 9-20 July at the Annimatsi camping site and from 30 July to 10 August at the Venevere Resort Village.
“The wide-ranging camp programme helps the young people become familiar with the culture and traditions of their ancestors and learn Estonian through various common activities and with the help of our local native speakers. In the course of each language exchange, there is an excursion to Tallinn, and they will also get to know the various sites near the camp site,” Jana Tondi, the head of the Multicultural Education Unit of MISA said on the nature of the camps.
Additionally, the camps include language lessons as well as an introduction to life in Estonia, and making and maintaining a connection to Estonian cultural space is encouraged.
“Estonian language camps are very important to young people of Estonian origin, because it is only once they have arrived at the camp that they realise where their ancestors are really from. The camp is also important for the young people living in Estonia because in communicating with youths of Estonian origin the young people living here realise the importance of preserving and propagating their language and culture,” Tondi said.
The language and cultural camps for expat Estonians are held within the framework of the national compatriots programme, which aims to preserve the cultural ties of Estonians living outside the territory of the Republic of Estonia, and to support co-operation with Estonians living here. The summer camps of expat Estonian youths is funded by the Ministry of Education and Research and the Ministry of Culture.
For additional information, please contact: Epp Adler, project manager for MTÜ HeadEst, e-post epp@headest.ee and Jana Tondi, head of the Multicultural Education Unit of MISA, phone 659 9069, e-mail jana.tondi@meis.ee.
MISA has offered family tutoring to non-Estonian youths for the past 15 years
For fifteen years, the Integration and Migration Foundation Our People (MISA) has offered family tutoring to non-Estonian speaking youths and third country nationals.
The aim of the family tutoring is to learn about the Estonian cultural sphere and Estonian more efficiently while living with an Estonian family.
Since 1998, nearly 20,000 youths have taken part in language camps and family tutoring under the aegis of MISA. For fifteen years, family tutoring has also been organised in Võrumaa, which has a highly motivated and functioning network of families and the willingness to take in children with a different first language for a few days. Pille Kulberg has organised family tutoring for 15 years and considers it to be one of the most efficient methods of integration. “This is not to underestimate the work done in language camps, where they have many non-Estonian students together at the same time; however, in the case of family tutoring, the work with the children of the target group is more intense and the individuality of the children is taken more into account. It also suits children who tend to be more shy and home-loving,” Kulberg explains. “At the moment, I am involved with the biggest project of my life – from the winter of 2012 until the summer of 2013, a hundred children from the target group are learning Estonian language and culture in families in Võrumaa,” Kulberg said.
Kulberg is happy that her family tutoring programmes have been successful and she lists the strong family network, support from the leadership and parents of the Narva Humanitaargümnaasium and many other contributors as essential factors. “It would be impossible to pull off such a great project without such close co-operation and helping hands,” she believes.
The head of the family tutoring in Võrumaa is not thrilled about the reports required for organising the activities; however, she claims that she has realised that there is no escape from bureaucracy. For her, the sparkle in the eyes of the students and the sincere words of thanks of the parents make up for all the difficulties.
Fourteen-year-old Anna Antipova, who has attended family tutoring three times, says that this form of study has made it considerably easier for her at school: “My grades in Estonian have improved. I like it in Sõmerpalu! I know many Estonian children, we go swimming in the Tamula lake in Võru and go for walks together on Suur Munamägi hill, in Rõuge and to Vastseliina castle. I liked all the families I have lived with because they are kind and friendly.”
Twelve-year-old Kirill Pavlov has stayed with Estonian families in Southern Estonia on a whopping five occasions. “I like it in Sõmerpalu, because I have a lot of friends here; the weather is warm and there is a lake. There are lots of fun things to do, like going hiking in Luhasoo and attending handicraft days.” According to Kirill, family tutoring has brought him many new friends and his grades have improved at school. Attending a school in Narva, Kirill only gets top marks in Estonian.
Kirill’s contemporary Anastassija Sasonova has stayed in the linguistic and cultural environment of Southern Estonia on four occasions. She also delights in the Sõmerpalu life and claims to know all the local children. The young girl loves the warm weather of Southern Estonia and the nearby lake and many fun activities that she can take part in with her local family. “Rõuge is the most beautiful; there is a handicraft workshop there, where I made a clay vase last year. And in Võru, there is a fair during the Folklore Festival, where you can see many interesting things! I have learnt a lot and I can speak much better Estonian,” says Anastassija, whose Estonian teacher is happy to hand out only top marks to her.
This year, family tutoring is available to children and young people aged 7-19, who are third country nationals or without citizenship, offering them an opportunity to make contacts with Estonian nationals and speakers and learn Estonian through activities. Family tutoring enables the young people to live with an Estonian family for 10-14 days, take part in their everyday family life and also accompany them on day trips and to cultural events.
For additional information, please contact: Sandra Nuudi, co-ordinator of the Multicultural Education Unit at MISA, phone 659 9855, e-mail sandra.nuudi@meis.ee.
Funding for projects dealing with citizenship awareness and tolerance approved
The Integration and Migration Foundation Our People (MISA) supported 11 projects with more than 31,000 euros in order to expand students’ knowledge of Estonian society, value in being an Estonian citizen and enhance their tolerance in a multicultural team.
The additional aims of the project competition included supporting co-operation between students with various first languages and ingraining the tradition of the citizen’s day.
“The project competition attracted 34 applications dealing with the themes of the War of Independence, explaining the opportunities of specialised studies and work to students, giving meaning to Estonia as a homeland and introducing well-known Estonian cultural figures with a different cultural background,” commented Toivo Sikk, co-ordinator of the Multicultural Education Unit of MISA.
Sikk was pleased that the competition proved popular, but he emphasised that before submitting their projects, the applicants must take more care in reading the guidelines of the competition, acquaint themselves with the terms and aims, and make sure they meet the budgetary requirements of the competition.
Grants were given to Võru Kesklinna Gümnaasium (Central Secondary School of Võru), 6th School of Narva, non-governmental organisation “Sebra”, Kammer School, Ehte Humanitaargümnaasium (Ehte Secondary School of Humanites), Foundation Unitas, Estonian Basic School of Sillamäe, Youth Organisation Plast, non-profit organisation Tartu Koidu Keskus, non-profit organisation Vaba Vaade and the Secondary School of Tapa.
The project competition is funded by the Ministry of Education and Research within the framework of the Estonian Integration Strategy 2008-2013.
For additional information, please contact: Toivo Sikk, co-ordinator of the Multicultural Education Unit of MISA, phone 659 9850, e-mail toivo.sikk@meis.ee.
MISA allocated nearly 198,000 euros for supporting minority cultures
The Integration and Migration Foundation Our People (MISA) allocated 197,606.92 euros via the basic financing round of applications of the cultural societies of ethnic minorities, and in total, supported the activities of 142 ethnic cultural societies and nine umbrella organisations.
The aim of the round of applications was to secure the activities of the cultural societies of ethnic minorities, and support their work in preserving and advancing their national heritage and language in Estonia.
The project competition enabled the state to acknowledge Estonia’s multiculturalism as well as introduce the characteristics of traditional ethnic cultures and activities of cultural societies of various ethnic minorities. The project competition also advances the co-operation between different cultural societies and co-operation with Estonian cultural societies.
The list of successful applicants is available on MISA’s website.
Basic financing grants for ethnic cultural societies and their umbrella organisations are funded by the Ministry of Education and Research within the framework of the Estonian Integration Strategy 2008-2013.
For additional information, please contact: Kristina Pirgop, co-ordinator of the Multicultural Education Unit of MISA, phone 659 9024, e-mail kristina.pirgop@meis.ee.
A survey on the effect of language skill development programmes now available
A survey commissioned by the Integration and Migration Foundation Our People (MISA) and carried out by pollster Saar Poll on the effect of programmes “Language Learning Development 2007-2010” and “Language Learning Development 2011-2013” funded by the European Social Fund, is now available.
The survey included a document analysis and feedback questionnaires among the target groups, using various study methods. The document analysis indicated that, from a practical perspective, the aimed volumes have largely been reached and surpassed. Participants of the survey who took part in language studies – the students of vocational schools and higher education institutions, as well as adult language students – have mostly become aware of the nuances of their improved language skills as a result of the courses: half of the students think that their language skills improved and that they will use their new language skills in their everyday and professional life.
In addition to the positive academic results, it must be noted that the need for additional language studies for participants of the programmes remains significant: among adult language students, 97 per cent think that additional language classes are necessary; among university students, the percentage is 86. The demand for additional training for teachers is somewhat smaller than that of the students; however, 83 per cent feel that they will need more similar training courses in the future, which includes improving their skills in teaching techniques as well as the Estonian language.
The viability of current activities is satisfactory: 4/5 of experts said that some activities launched within the framework of MISA’s language learning programmes have been applied after the programmes have ended. According to service providers, around half of the activities launched within MISA’s language learning programmes have been continued after the programmes have ended. At the same time, the survey showed that neither the service providers nor MISA have the necessary funds to continue these activities without support from Enterprise Estonia (EAS).
The survey was carried out from December 2012 to June 2013. The survey report and a summary are available at http://www.meis.ee/uuringud. The press release with a summary of the survey is available here.
For additional information, please contact: Maria Ratassepp, co-ordinator of the Lifelong Learning Unit of MISA, phone 659 9068, e-mail maria.ratassepp@meis.ee.
