DISPATCHES
In-service training of National Culture Society Sunday school teachers in the motherland
Summer saw the end of a project competition designed to support the in-service training of national culture society Sunday school teachers in their ethnic homelands. The competition funds the cost of a course, the acquisition of literature and study materials in the native language and travel costs.
Eleven teachers from six different national culture society Sunday schools received grants through the competition. Support for in-service training was issued to Ukrainians (two schools), Armenians, Azeris, Chuvashis and the Dagestan Cultural Association.
The total amount of the grants came to 608,039 kroons.
For further information please contact Evelin Müüripeal at the Centre for Educational Programmes.
Improvements in access to youth-related data
In order to ensure the better availability of youth-related data, the new version of the Estonian Youth Institute’s website will be completed in September in association with the Centre for Educational Programmes of the Non-Estonians’ Integration Foundation, as a result of which:
- existing information will be systematised;
- the central information base will be updated, including the database of studies;
- access to youth-related information will become quicker and more convenient for users.
The new site will feature information about everything related to youth. For example, how many young people are studying and where they are studying, the kind of interest areas they can be involved in, and the contact details of youth advisory centres. Information is available in both Estonian and Russian.
For further information please contact Toivo Sikk at the Centre for Educational Programmes.
Estonian language courses for 130 vocational school teachers and directors come to an end in Tallinn and Ida-Viru County
The 240-hour courses were held at the Ontika Training Centre of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Congregation and at Multilingua Language Centre. The courses focussed on professional language, general communication training and Estonian culture. In addition to everyday language lessons, participants were also given practice in teaching their subjects in Estonian, with mathematics, plastering and aerobics proving very popular! It emerged that many of the ‘students’ knew nothing of the more intriguing details of their colleagues’ work. The groups from Ida-Viru County were particularly satisfied with the main test of their communicative language: the study day held at the Tartu Vocational Education Centre, during which the teachers were able to form contacts and share experiences for the first time with Estonian colleagues. They were also very pleased with their cultural field trips to Palamuse, the Lahemaa tourism farm, the open air museum and other places. Such a connection with Estonian culture gave the participants in the project a lot of self-confidence and represents a very positive stimulus for language learning.
126 teachers and staff from vocational schools successfully completed and were certified for the course. They were from the Narva Vocational Studies Centre, Sillamäe Vocational School, Tallinn Building School, Tallinn Kopli Professional School, Tallinn Lasnamäe Mechanics School, the Tallinn School of Service, Tallinn Transport School, the Tallinn Industrial Education Centre and the Ida-Viru County Vocational Education Centre.
For further information please contact Helena Metslang from the Administrative Unit of the Structural Funds.
Training of language immersion programme advisors
The Non-Estonians’ Integration Foundation continues to train advisors from the Language Immersion Centre as part of the ‘Advice in Support of the Professional Development of Teachers’ programme. Six training days will be held in September in two-day cycles for three groups. A total of 48 candidate advisors for the language immersion programme will take part. In the future they will support and advise language immersion teachers in schools throughout Estonia.
The training sessions will be carried out by Ene Kulasalu, Ene Velström and Koidu Tani-Jürisoo from the Open Mind Institute.
For further information please contact Marju Randlepp from the Language Immersion Centre.
Excursion to Latvia for parents of children in the Language Immersion Programme
From 27 to 29 September, 25 members of the Language Immersion Programme’s Parents Association will have the chance to learn more about the experiences of Latvian schools with bilingual studies. Meetings with parents, teachers and education officials are planned along with visits to the Daugavpils bilingual education centre and kindergartens and schools in Riga.
Organisation of the excursion is being financially supported by the Ministry of Education and Research.
For further information please contact Svetlana Belova from the Language Immersion Centre.
In-service training of teachers of Estonian as a second language
A training day for teachers of Estonian as a second language in Russian-language kindergartens entitled ‘Good Kid, Impossible Behaviour?!’ will be held in Tallinn on 10 September and in Kohtla-Järve on 12 September. A range of topics will be looked at during the day, including the emotional nature of children, ‘difficult’ children as inspiration for the personal and professional development of teachers and bilingual children. The trainer is Viktoria Saat.
For further information please contact Külli Vollmer at the Centre for Educational Programmes
In-service training for class teachers
A field trip to Greece will take place from 15 to 21 September for educational officials, trainers, school directors and class teachers who deal with new immigrant pupils. The trip is designed to introduce the participants to the Greek education system and to the teaching of immigrants in kindergartens and schools. Greece was chosen as an example country because of the multicultural background of the children that must be integrated into its education system.
For further information please contact Külli Vollmer from the Centre for Educational Programmes.
Free national training
Free preparatory courses for constitution and citizenship examinations continue to be held for individuals with undefined citizenship status. Information and registration is available from the free information line 800 9999 and at advisory centres.
The addresses of these advisory centres changed in August. They are now located at:
Tallinn, Tõnismägi 2
BDA Estonia OÜ rooms, adviser Reet Valing
Telephone: 627 4412
Open Monday-Friday 10.00 am to 2.00 pm.
Jõhvi, Tartu mnt 2
Kersti Võlu Training Centre, adviser Kersti Võlu
Telephone: 800 9999
Open Monday-Friday 10.00 am to 4.00 pm.
Narva, Kerese 14
Estonian House in Narva, adviser Marista Ort
1st floor, room 118
Telephone: 356 1985
Open Monday-Friday 10.00 am to 4.00 pm.
Further information about courses and the terms and conditions for applying for citizenship are available from www.meis.ee/kodanik.
ONGOING COMPETITIONS
Project competition for national cultural societies
The aim of the competition is to support the preservation of the culture and language of ethnic minorities through the activities of national cultural societies and arts groups.
The deadline for submitting applications is 19 September, 2007 at 4 pm.
Open competition for integration projects
The aim of the applications to be submitted to the competition should be to support integration activities that meet the objectives of the program “Integration in Estonian Society 2000-2007” and the Articles of the Non-Estonians Integration Foundation.
The deadline for submitting applications is 2 October, 2007 at 4 pm.
