INTEGRATION CALENDAR – APRIL 2009

EST: INTEGRATSIOONIKALENDER - APRILL 2009

RUS: ИНТЕГРАЦИОННЫЙ КАЛЕНДАРЬ НА АПРЕЛЬ 2009 ГОДА

 

 

 

This is the 10^th year when the Integration Foundation awards integration-related development grants. For the first time we will also give a media commendation for reporting about integration in the press.

 

The grants are meant to facilitate work on integration issues and find new methods and possibilities for involving people of different nationalities in cooperation activities. This year grants in three categories are awarded: Estonian language studies advancement, multicultural Estonia comprehension and advancement, citizenship awareness cultivation.

 

The winners of the 2009 development grants will be announced on April 7 at the Russian Theatre of Estonia.

 

For further information please contact: Iris Järv, Coordinator, Culture and Youth Work Unit, phone: +372 659 9029, e-mail: iris.jarv@meis.ee

 

 

 

The Integration Foundation in cooperation with Tallinn University has commenced development of an adaptation programme for nationals of third countries to boost their efficient integration in Estonian society. The work is financed by the Office of the Minister for Population and Ethnic Affairs and the European Fund for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals, which was established as part of the general European Union programme titled “Solidarity and management of migratory flows”.

 

The adaptation programme encompasses different fields and activities. A round table meeting will take place in the first half of April to discuss the programme relevance and its supporting measures and regulations. The round table discussion is set to include, in addition to the partners and our funders, representatives of local governments, the Citizenship and Migration Board, the Labour Market Board, the Ministry of Education and Science and other involved parties that are in direct contact with the target group or have the necessary information about the target group.

 

The initiators of this round table discussion are two staff members of Tallinn University: Mart Rannut, Director of the Estonian Language and Culture Institute, and Ülle Rannut, Docent of Estonian as a foreign language.

 

For further information please contact:   Riina Ring, Coordinator, Lifelong Learning Unit, phone: +372 659 9032, e-mail: riina.ring@meis.ee

 

 

 

In April employees of educational institutions in Tallinn will begin improving their Estonian language skills. In March officials of local governments in Ida-Virumaa and employees of the institutions administrated by these local governments began attending Estonian language courses in Jõhvi, Sillamäe and Narva. In May and June the programme participants will have their language practice and receive their colleagues who work in Estonian-language environments.

 

The labour force exchange programme aimed at improving Estonian language skills consists of brief Estonian language courses and employee exchanges involving colleagues from Estonian-language environments. The programme is carried out by AS Erahariduskeskus, having won the corresponding procurement.

 

The activities are part of the “Language Studies Development 2007-2010” programme financed by the European Social Fund.

 

For further information please contact:   Tea Kotkas, Coordinator, Lifelong Learning Unit, phone: +372 659 9061, e-mail: tea.kotkas@meis.ee

 

 

 

 

The Integration Foundation has initiated cooperation with Sugesto OÜ to conduct Estonian language training courses for professionals and support their practice in Estonian-language work environments.

 

Estonian language courses are to begin in the autumn of 2009 for young people studying the following professions – salesperson, chef, waiter, hairdresser and beautician – and also, if necessary, for adults already working in these professions. The courses are meant to prepare the participants for the first-level Estonian language vocational examination.

 

The courses comprising 120 academic hours will be available in Tallinn, Jõhvi and Narva.

The target group will be notified in the spring of 2009 and study group enrolment will begin at the same time. For further details write to info@sugesto.ee or call 660 1559.

 

These activities are organised as part of the “Language Studies Development 2007–2010” programme, a measure of the “Lifelong Learning” priority of the “Human Resources Development Plan” financed by the European Social Fund.

 

For further information please contact:   Merlin Mägi, Coordinator, Lifelong Learning Unit, phone: +372 659 9068, e-mail: merlin.magi@meis.ee

 

 

 

The winning offer in the public procurement titled “Defining the role of local governments in implementation of the activities outlined in the Estonian integration programme for 2008–2013” was made jointly by the “Institute of Baltic Studies” non-profit association, the “PRAXIS Centre for Political Studies” foundation and OÜ Geomedia.

 

The organisations that won the procurement will now determine which integration programme activities it would be expedient to delegate to local governments. For that purpose the integration programme documents will be analysed and interviews will be conducted with local government officials and state agency representatives.

Consultations and feedback seminars are planned, as well as a course for local government officials introducing relevant best international practice. The experts will also develop a mechanism for administrating and financing activities that will have to supplement delegation by the state of additional tasks to local governments.

 

This preparatory work will result in concrete proposals to the Government of the Republic about changing in 2010 the entities performing actions stipulated in the Estonian integration programme for 2008–2013 and its implementation plan for 2008–2010.

The procurement procedures are financed by the European Fund for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals and the Estonian State Chancellery.

 

For further information please contact: Ruslan Prohhorenko, Coordinator, Civic Education Unit, phone: +372 659 9035, e-mail: ruslan.prohhorenko@meis.ee

 

 

 

The public procurement titled “Improving integration policy indicators” was won by the Ernst & Young Baltic AS auditing company. The goal is to ensure timely, cost-efficient and resultative accomplishment of the Estonian integration programme for 2008–2013 on the basis of its implementation plan for 2008–2010 that stipulates clear objectives, expected results, activities and the corresponding achievement indicators.

 

The winning offer outlines connections between national-level results and those on the European Union level so that the indicators of achievement of the general objectives and sub-objectives of the Estonian integration programme for 2008–2013 could allow comparison of developments in the integration sphere in Estonia with those in other EU countries.

 

The procurement procedures are financed by the European Fund for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals and the Estonian State Chancellery.

 

For further information please contact: Kersti Peterson, Coordinator, Civic Education Unit, phone: +372 659 9034, e-mail: kersti.peterson@meis.ee

 

 

 

The public procurement titled “Campaigns aimed at raising equal treatment awareness and developing tolerance” was won by Alfa-Omega Communications OÜ.

 

The winning company will be responsible for explaining to employers the principles of equal treatment and introducing ethnically diverse working environment experiences shared by various enterprises. The winning company will be also presenting to the general public examples of people residing in Estonia whose native language is a language other than Estonian and of cooperation between people of different nationalities.

 

The procurement procedures are financed by the European Fund for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals and the Estonian State Chancellery.

 

For further information please contact: Kati Tamm, Coordinator, Civic Education Unit, phone: +372 659 9027, e-mail: kati.tamm@meis.ee

 

 

 

April will see the start of Estonian language courses for secondary-school level teachers from schools where Russian is the language of instruction who already teach or are to begin teaching their subjects in Estonian. The course duration is 80 hours. Course groups are enrolled based on the applicants’ language skills and the subjects they teach. These language courses should support the teachers’ communicative competence development and that is why the courses will focus on creating study situations in which the participants can primarily improve their listening and conversational skills. The course conversational topics are connected with the participants’ activity spheres, mainly with education in general, pedagogy and particular subjects taught in general education school.

The Estonian language courses for teachers who teach their subjects in Estonian at schools where Russian is the language of instruction will be held in Tallinn and Ida-Virumaa. These Estonian language studies for teachers are financed by the European Social Fund.

 

For further information please contact: Natalia Reppo, Coordinator, Multicultural Education Unit, phone: +372 659 9855, e-mail: natalia.reppo@meis.ee

 

 

 

 

 

11.00 on April 14 is the deadline for the public procurement titled “Arranging practical training for youth workers in multicultural environment”.

The goal of this procurement is to improve the competence of youth workers in intercultural study methods for them to be able to work with young people in multicultural environments (i.e. people with different linguistic and cultural backgrounds) so as to facilitate the integration of young people – including those with third-country citizenship – into society and enhance their intercultural contacts and mutual trust.

The procurement envisages practical training for 18 youth workers in a multicultural environment. The procurement is financed by the European Integration Fund and the Office of the Minister for Population and Ethnic Affairs.

 

For further information please contact: Kaie Kullik, Coordinator, Culture and Youth Work Unit, phone: +372 659 9025, e-mail: kaie.kullik@meis.ee

 

 

 

11.00 on April 23 is the deadline for the simplified public procurement titled “Estonian and Russian language improvement courses for youth workers”. The goal of the procurement is to provide 20 youth workers whose native language is a language other than Estonian with the chance to improve the Estonian language skills that they need for their work.

 

At the same time 20 youth workers whose native language is a language other than Estonian will be able to improve their Russian language skills for initial native-language youth supervision (it is primarily Russian) so that all young people enjoy equal youth work participation opportunities.

In-service training of 60 academic hours is planned to be organised in Harju, Ida-Viru and Tartu Counties.

 

This is the second such procurement. Previous such courses for 40 youth workers in Tallinn and Ida-Virumaa will end this month.

 

For further information please contact: Kaie Kullik, Coordinator, Culture and Youth Work Unit, phone: +372 659 9025, e-mail: kaie.kullik@meis.ee

 

 

 

In late March the Integration Foundation launched the simplified public procurement titled “Organisation of Estonian language courses and teacher training”. The deadline for application submission is April 23, 2009.

 

The goal of the procurement is to conduct until the end of 2010 Estonian language courses free of charge for 800 (400 from Harjumaa and 400 from Ida-Virumaa) stateless persons and citizens of third countries who have been living in Estonia for a long time. Training is also planned for 30 teachers who teach Estonian as the second language and curricula are to be created for the courses.

 

The general goal of the procurement is to support integration into Estonian society of stateless persons and citizens of third countries who have been living in Estonia for a long time. That is to be achieved through high-quality gratis Estonian language courses that will make the learner more independent and provide the language skills needed to function in Estonian society.

 

The procurement is carried out with the financial support of the Estonian State Chancellery and the European Fund for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals, which was established as part of the general European Union programme “Solidarity and management of migratory flows”.

 

For further information please contact: Tea Tammistu, Coordinator, Civic Education Unit, phone: +372 659 9062, e-mail: tea.tammistu@meis.ee

 

 

 

The Integration Foundation has announced a new procurement to find an organisation that would arrange brief Estonian language courses and labour force exchange for improving Estonian language skills among those teachers, police officials, medical workers and librarians whose knowledge of the Estonian language is deemed insufficient. The application submission deadline April 24, 2009.

 

The goal of the labour force exchange programme is to create a variety of flexible opportunities for these people to learn the official language to the level necessary for them to be able to function in their everyday lives and professional activities. The training will be financed through the “Language Studies Development 2007-2010” programme of the European Social Fund.

 

For further information please contact: Tea Kotkas, Coordinator, Lifelong Learning Unit, phone: +372 659 9061, e-mail: tea.kotkas@meis.ee

 

 

 

The aim of the “Publication of preparatory materials for Estonian-language vocational examinations” procurement is to produce profession-specific Estonian-language training materials and glossaries for sales staff, hairdressers, beauticians, chefs and waiters. The procurement will also include audio recording of listening texts for the training materials. The procurement competition is open until April 20, 2009.

 

The procurement competition is organised as part of the “Language Studies Development 2007–2010” programme financed by the European Social Fund (measure “Language studies development” in “Lifelong Learning” priority, part of “Human Resources Development Plan”).

 

For further information please contact:   Merlin Mägi, Coordinator, Lifelong Learning Unit, phone: +372 659 9068, e-mail: merlin.magi@meis.ee

 

 

 

On March 25 the Integration Foundation announced the procurement competition “Preparation of teacher training students to work with pupils whose native language is a language other than Estonian”. The application submission deadline is 15.00 on April 24.

 

The procurement is designed to enable students studying to become teachers and those already working as teachers to obtain the knowledge they require to work at general education schools and vocational education institutions with languages of instruction other than Estonian. For this purpose two specialised courses of elective subjects will be developed and carried out as pilot courses on the topics of “Developing skills in the language of study in subject lessons” and “Intercultural differences: students with Russian cultural background”.

 

The procurement is organised as part of the “Language Studies Development 2007-2010” programme financed through the European Social Fund.

 

For further information please contact:   Ave Osman, Coordinator, Lifelong Learning Unit, phone: +372 659 9030, e-mail: ave.osman@meis.ee

 

 

 

 

 

In early April the Integration Foundation will be launching the simplified public tender titled “In-service training of school management for development of teaching in Estonian at non-Estonian vocational schools”.

 

The in-service training goal is to ensure readiness of the management of vocational educational institutions to develop at their schools the integration-related aspects of language and professional studies, implement possibilities for integrated subject and specialty e-studies in Estonian and other languages.

 

The procurement forms falls under the “In-service training for school management and teachers of vocational studies groups instructed in a language other than Estonian” part of the European Social Fund’s “Language Studies Development 2007-2010” programme.

 

For further information please contact:   Kristina Johannes, Coordinator, Lifelong Learning Unit, phone: +372 659 9065, e-mail: kristina.johannes@meis.ee

 

 

 

In April the Integration Foundation will launch the simplified procurement “Training on method of integrated subject and language studies (ISLS)”. This training is meant to raise awareness among staff of schools where the language of instruction is other than Estonian about the ISLS essence and the language immersion programme methodology, offering support to teachers working with children in the language immersion programme and with children whose household communication language is not the same as the language of school instruction.

 

The training courses will be offered to 160 teachers and the priority target group comprises basic school teachers from Russian-language schools, including language immersion schools. The training courses will take place in May-September of 2009.

 

The training will consist of four 3-day courses, two of which will be conducted both in Estonian and Russian. At least 2/3 of the total training volume will be topics connected with the language immersion methodology and up to 1/3 will be about supporting teacher and pupil development and other psychological topics.

 

This training will be financed by the Ministry of Education and Science.

 

For further information please contact: Maire Kebbinau, Coordinator, Multicultural Education Unit, phone: +372 659 9847, e-mail: maire.kebbinau@meis.ee

 

 

 

The competition of “Our Estonia” projects will commence in April. The goal of the project competition is to support familiarisation of pupils with the timeline and cultural history of the Estonian state and the corresponding places/locations and cooperation of pupils from Estonian, Russian and other-language schools (general education schools and vocational education institutions providing secondary vocational education). The activities must give the project participants information and practical experience useful for living and studying/working in Estonia. The activities must involve citizens of third countries living in Estonia, stateless persons and citizens of the European Union.

The projects will be financed by the European Fund for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals.

 

For further information please contact: Toivo Sikk, Coordinator, Multicultural Education Unit, phone: +372 659 9850, e-mail: toivo.sikk@meis.ee