BONJOUR L'ESTONIE

Number of foreign students in Estonian universities increases every year

Juhan Tere

More than 500 new foreign students study in Estonian universities in 2009 and the number is increasing every year, EPL Online/LETA reports.

In Tallinn Technical University (TTU), the number of new foreign students grew this year by 33.8% as compared to last year, to 127. The university offers 12 different study plans in English and the number applications was highest for cyber defence and legal sciences.

In the University of Tallinn, 273 students from 47 states study this autumn semester, 120 of them started their studies this autumn, said foreign students coordinator Merje Song. During the whole of the previous academic year, 309 foreign students studied in the university and the number will be bigger this year, she said, adding that the exact figure isn’t known yet as students who will come to the university for the spring semester have not all sent their applications.

Tartu University accepted 136 foreign students versus 92 last year. The number of people accepted to master’s degree studies has increased by over two times, said the university’s international studies chief specialist Ülle Tensing. She said that the most popular subjects were software technology and semiotics. A total of nearly 650 foreign students altogether study in the university.

The school menu will be variegated with Mexican food

TALLINN – Yesterday [14. Oct] the new project , goal of which will be the induction of some variety to school canteens, will start. This will be the first time, the pupils will be offered traditional Mexican cuisine.

This project will take place in six different schools – on 14th of October in three school located in Tallinn, and later in schools in Tartu, Saku and Viru. About 4600 pupils will have the opportunity to taste the Mexican dinner, and, depending on the comments, it will or will not continue in future.

The project is realized by Spicery developer Santa Maria and one of the biggest school nutrition supplier Fazer Amica Eesti AS. The six school taking part in the project are Tallinn center of industrial education, Rocca al Mare school, Arte gymnasium, Tartu gymnasium Miina Härma, Kreutzwaldi gymnasium and Sakus gymnasium.

Number of foreign students in the University of Tartu in Estonia is growing

Juhan Tere

77 foreign students were admitted to Master’s studies in the University of Tartu in Estonia in 2009 – twice as many as in 2008, writes the National Broadcasting/LETA.

The highest number of international students – 30 – will start studying semiotics in the upcoming academic year. 22 students will start their studies in software technology, the curriculum of which was created in co-operation with the Tallinn Technical University.

Most applications for international curricula were received from the United States, Russia, Ukraine and Germany. The most exotic countries represented were Syria, Mexico, India, Columbia and Sri Lanka.

Although a total of 1,184 applications from foreign countries were received for admission in the Bachelor’s studies, Master’s studies and Doctorate studies, only 166 were eligible.

The University of Tartu will offer this autumn six international Master’s studies curricula in English: semiotics, applied measuring science, software technology, Baltic studies, the European Union-Russia studies and wellness and spa services design and management.

Estonia to lend 80 mln kroons to the Tallinn Technical University

Juhan Tere

The Government of Estonia decided to issue a loan of 80 million kroons to the Tallinn Technical University for up to 10 years, writes the National Broadcasting/LETA.

The objective of the loan is to guarantee that the university can complete its 7-year investment programme and the loan would also be used for co-financing the objects financed from the EU structural funds.

The Tallinn Technical University requested the annual interest rate of Euribor plus 2.5%.

According to this year’s State Budget Act, the maximum balance of loans to be issued by the Government is 3 billion kroons. By now, nearly 0.25 billion kroons of this amount is being used and hence during the year of 2009 the Government still has 2.75 billion kroons that it can issue as loans.

The endless days of summer camp

By Ella Karapetyan

TALLINN - After the long, cold and dark nights of winter have passed, children and youngsters are happy to meet summer, which is the perfect time for taking part in various international camps all over Estonia.
The well-known language school “School in Down-Town” is opening its doors for children and teenagers to take part in camps that will take place in Tallinn.
The city language camp is held by the support service of Alternative Programs on Foreign Languages (ALPS) on the basis of the School of Foreign Languages In Down-Town and with assistance from the international youth organization ESTYES.

According to Aleksander Kurushev, the coordinator of International Youth Association EstYES, generally the camps start from mid-June and run until the end of September.
Moreover, the topics of the camps are always different, as are the activities. This summer the volunteers are going to work with kids – mainly manual work for the benefit of local communities, environment, construction works, etc.
“The aim of making these kind of projects are to gain youth mobility, solidarity, non-formal education as well as intercultural learning, rural or community development, personal growth and, of course, fun,” Kurushev told The Baltic Times.

Kurushev explained that generally a group of 10-25 international volunteers work and live together in a local community project for a period of a few days to a month. Living and working together, young people from different backgrounds are able to get to know each other and overcome the barriers of language and other differences. The practical work within the community and the intercultural interaction makes every camp contribute to a more peaceful world.

A lesson in understanding

By Ella Karapetyan

TALLINN - A well-known VK Private School in Tallinn, which was given a 10,000 euro grant as part of a multilateral project to produce a collection of national and regional traditional ethnic myths and legends, will soon conclude the two-year project.

The “Sharing Legends” project, sponsored by the Comenius program partnered Estonia, Cyprus and Greece, and will end in July.
The Comenius program focuses on the first phase of education, from pre-school and primary to secondary schools and involves all relevant members of the education community including pupils, teachers, local authorities, parents’ associations, non-government organizations, teacher training institutes and universities.

The program aims to improve the initial or in-service training of teachers and other people working in the school education sector.
The Comenius program was developed to improve the mobility of pupils and educational staff; to increase and enhance the partnership between schools in EU member states and to have at least three million pupils taking part in joint educational activities by 2010.

One of the goals is also to enhance the quality and European dimension of teacher training and to improve pedagogical approaches and school management.
It also aims to encourage language learning; teaching techniques; promote learning; support entrepreneurship and reinforce creativity and innovation.

Students ready to sue the government over cutbacks

Student organizations say they are outraged over the government’s proposal to cut benefits, writes Postimees.

Specifically, students are furious over plans to stop compensating student loans and to reduce various student subsidies.

Students of the law faculty of the Tartu University have already threatened to go to court to protect their interests.

“Estonian needs to take some urgent decisions to improve the situation , but it cannot be made at the expense of students,” says Joonas Pärenson, chairman of the Estonian Association of Student Organizations.

Pärenson says that, instead of investing in higher education, the state is doing exactly the opposite, taking money away from education and weakening the economic wellbeing of students.

The government decided last week to stop compensating student loans for new borrowers and those who already have taken out a student loan.

Toomas Hõbemägi

Non-Estonian teachers fear mass job loss

By Ella Karapetyan

TALLINN - Lyudmilla Andreichuk is an English teacher at a private school in Tallinn. In addition to English, she speaks fluent Russian and Estonian.
Though Andreichuk will not personally be affected by the law stating that all teachers must have an adequate level of Estonian to keep their jobs, she has deep concerns. She thinks the damage done to the Estonian education system may be irrevocable.

“I suppose that the law concerning the Estonian language categories will bring the educational system to total destruction, and this means that the Russian schools will be in danger of collapse,” Andreichuk told The Baltic Times.
She said the courses offered by the state to help teachers meet the language requirements were not sufficient, and that the shortfall could lead to widespread problems as teachers begin to lose their jobs en masse.

Andreichuk is not alone in her opinion of the law.
Tension is rising among teachers throughout Estonia as many are beginning to come to terms with what the education system might look like after the deadline for all teachers to learn the national language passes next year.

With the two-year grace period now nearly halfway through, many teachers who had tried to learn Estonian are now realizing they will not be able to meet the requirements by the time the deadline, which will fall on July 1 next year, has passed.

Education fairs

Tartu 13-14 February , Narva, 13-14 March 2009 and Tallinn 22-23 March 2009

WEBA will organise 3 Higher Education Fairs in Estonia in the first period of the year , in Tartu , Narva and Tallinn.
The International Education Fair are co-ordinated with the Ministry of Education in Estonia and is open to all international exhibitors.

We welcome international institutions to attend the annual event and introduce they programs to the students of Estonia.

The aim of annual fair is to offer youngsters as much information about studying, free time, employment etc. possibilities, which is necessary in life. Additionally to offer people who work with and for youngsters information about trainings, methods, literature etc to enrich their daily work.

Approx. 27'000 students will attend the event in the year 2009.

The typical visitor of WEBA Platform will be undergraduate and postgraduate students.

The main thematic exhibitions fields include:

• primary and secondary education
• higher education
• post-graduate
• education international organizations
• virtual textbooks and programs equipment for educational institutions

The Estonian educational system covers pre-school education, basic education, upper secondary or vocational education, and post-secondary education at universities and at other post-secondary institutions. Some schools are funded by private capital, although the majority of schools are funded by state or local government budgets.

Laptops replace Estonian teachers' wage rises

Juhan Tere

Estonian teachers will not receive a wage increase due to cuts in the state budget, but the plan to supply all teaching staff in Estonian schools with laptops has not been rejected, LETA quoted ERR News.

Tõnis Lukas, the Minister of Education and Research of Estonia, is to propose some ways of guaranteeing teachers' wage hike. Besides, the many ask themselves the question if the purchase of laptops for teachers is a luxury in the current economic situation.

"Sometimes people think of it [a laptop] as of a kind of luxury. I think it is not so. Nowadays the laptop is like blackboard and chalk used to be before," Andres Ammas, the Director of Haapsalu Gümnaasium said.

In Viimsi School, nearly every teacher has a computer at home. They all have the option of using computer at school as well. Hille Eek, the Director of Studies at the school, said that all teachers won't get a laptop anyway. It is a luxury item in current situation.

"If all teachers are given a laptop, it is fair, but certainly not like this. In these times, it is actually a luxury item," Eek said.

According to Lukas, all costs in the ministry's management area were automatically cut by 7%. He would prefer to keep the salary rise and make savings on something else.

EBS plans to broaden links

By Kester Eddy

Estonian Business School, Tallinn, which has just celebrated its 20th anniversary, intends to forge stronger international links to maintain its competitive advantages, says rector Peeter Kross.

“Since I took over 10 months ago, one of my major concerns has been to continue refocusing our international activities on strategic partnerships with leading schools in countries where EBS needs more visibility, [similar to] our joint degree with Lancaster University Management School in the UK, signed in 2007,” says Mr Kross.

EBS expects to agree joint degree and long-term student exchange programmes with both Oxford Brookes University in the UK and IAE Aix-en-Provence in France shortly, the latter with a specialisation in European Business.

Mr Kross is also keen to expand to the east of Estonia, in Russia and China.

“We’ve hired Russian-speaking staff...as a result about one-third of our master’s level 2008-2009 intake are from the Russian-speaking community,” he says.

Relations with Russia will be further enhanced after requests by the University of Pskov for help in creating a business school and by Arkhangelsk Technical University, which plans to teach in English and adopt the European three-years-plus-two system of study.

The school already has exchange partners for students and faculty in St Petersburg and Moscow, and recently held its first alumni conference in China.

Modern persuasions and foreign liaisons

By Matt Withers

Higher education in the Baltics has come a long way from the forced memorization of Soviet days, but most universities in the three countries still have far to go to reach Western standards. Nonetheless, as Baltic research flourishes and more youths become interested in pursuing a university degree, the higher education system is constantly getting better. In this week’s Industry Insider, we take a look at foreign students and teachers working in the Baltics, Lithuania’s need for higher education reform, and Latvia’s battle overcoming the Soviet legacy.

TALLINN - Since gaining EU membership, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have seen their historic universities rise from the ashes of the occupation and graduate to the world stage.
And while the schools remain overshadowed by well-established international institutions in the U.S. and Western Europe, the Baltic’s diverse range of higher education is beginning to turn heads – attracting healthy numbers of foreign students and academics alike.

In recent years Baltic universities and colleges, some of which date back over 400 years, appear to have shifted gears away from tradition and towards a modern, interactive and highly accessible brand of higher education. So far results have been positive.

Plans to close half of Estonia's high schools in effect

TBT staff in cooperation with BNS

TALLINN - According to a plan for the reorganization of the schoool network now being prepered for at the Education Ministry about one hundred Estonian high schools, called gumnaasiumid, gymnasia, in Estonian, could be closed, the daily Eesti Päevaleht reported.

Education Minister Tonis Lukas said the ministry is considering how many high schools are needed in Estonia and how many exactly will be closed in the upcoming years.

In 2012 high schools and primary schools that meet the established terms will be issued schooling licenses. "As we are mainly talking about high schools, schools that do not meet the terms will not be issued schooling licenses," Lukas said.

The conditions for closure are the existence of an either scientific or humanitarian bias, teaching of an optional subject in promoting that bias, qualified teachers and a sufficient number of students.

If a high school located outside the county seat meets the terms, it will also be issued the schooling license. If there are only five students set to attend the tenth grade in a small community school, the local government will close the school anyway.

Peeter Kreitzberg, chairman of the parliament's standing culture committee, said that separation of the basic school and the high school had been relatively well accepted in parliament. "I believe that more of less all the parties are in its favor," Kreitzberg said.

Kreitzberg said that as there were 232 high schools in Estonia at present, then about 100 of them would probably be closed.

Lessons in Estonian in Russian-language schools require supervision

Juhan Tere

The Ministry of Education and Science of Estonia is planning to supervise that lessons in Estonian in Russian-speaking schools comply with the curriculum and the norms, writes Eesti Päevaleht.

The deputy Secretary General of the ministry Katri Raik estimated that the transition of schools teaching in Russian to teaching some subjects in Estonian has been satisfactory, but in the new academic year the Ministry of Education and Science wants to be convinced that the studies that are carried out in Estonian comply with the curriculum and correctly in Estonian.

“We have received rumour-like signals which indicate that the subjects concerned are not taught in Estonian in all schools like the schools themselves claim,” explained Raik. As most schools are governed by local municipalities, the representatives of municipalities will also be involved in the process.

The transition to lessons being carried out in Estonian started last year when all schools which teach in Russian had to start teaching at least Estonian language and literature in Estonian from the 10th grade. This year the schools will have to choose an additional subject – whether music or social studies.

In November the Ministry of Education and Science will open counselling centres in four cities – in Narva, Kohtla-Järve, Tallinn and Tartu where employees will make regular visits to schools and advise teachers who carry out their lessons in Estonian.

Competition for exchange student places tempts some applicants to cheat

Smoking and drinking habits tend to be forgotten on application forms.

The competition for the most popular exchange student places is so intense that some young people are tempted to make their applications look better.
      Risto Muinonen, the chairman of the Finnish Rotary Youth Exchange multidistrict organisation, reported on a young girl who wished to come to Finland as an exchange student. Her application had contained some false details on the basis of which she knew she would qualify. However, the girl wanted to go back home after having been in the country for only two weeks. The selection had gone wrong.
      Muinonen does not know precisely how much people take liberties with the truth in their applications, but claims that it must be a marginal phenomenon.
      ”After all, people try their very best even when completing job applications”, he notes.
      As the information given cannot be checked, deceptions do occur.
      
About a hundred young persons who have been selected by the Rotary Youth Exchange organisation as exchange students to Finland and Estonia were studying the Finnish language and Finnish customs in the Karkku evangelical college in Vammala, some 50 km southwest of Tampere . Exchange students normally participate in a one-week orientation camp before joining their host families.
      ”These young people have already learned the Finnish punctuality”, says college secretary Kaija Tomperi contentedly.

Statistics Estonia has issued the publication “Lapsed. Children”

Tiiu-Liisa Rummo

The positive atmosphere at school is associated with better health and serves as a protective factor against risk behaviour – smoking, alcohol and drug abuse – proves the publication “Lapsed. Children” issued by Statistics Estonia. But the satisfaction with school is extremely low among Estonian children compared to other countries.

Statistics Estonia has issued the publication “Lapsed. Children” which focuses on children’s and young people’s life and well-being in the society of Estonia. The children’s growth environment, poverty, crime, spare time, school life and health and risk behaviour have been discussed.

Estonia fears English too dominant in its schools

TALLINN  — Education authorities in Estonia Thursday warned that the hands-down dominance of English in its schools is depriving the Baltic state of the language specialists it will need in the future.

A hefty 84 percent of pupils in this country of 1.3 million people opt to study English, according to official statistics.

Some 41 percent take Russian as a foreign language. Russian is also the native tongue of around a third of the population.

German and French, meanwhile, come in a distant third and fourth, studied respectively by just 18 percent and three percent of pupils.

"As a result, Estonia is now lacking and also likely far into the future to lack a sufficient number of specialists able to work in other official languages of the European Union," Kersti Sostar, head of the language department of Estonia's state examination and qualification centre, told AFP.

Estonia joined the EU in 2004, 13 years after breaking free from the crumbling Soviet Union.

Since independence, the country has enjoyed spiralling economic growth rates and, thanks to its flourishing hi-tech industry, has earned the nickname "E-stonia".

Estonia : New Phenomenon ‘Home Education’

In Estonia, home education is still quite a new phenomenon, however, thanks to a certain education minister, we are doing better now. At the moment it is allowed by law to home educate until the end of grade 6 (about the age of 12).

We started a support centre for home education in 2005 (The Estonian Centre for Home Education) and have organized conferences and published articles. Our aim has been to change the law in that children could be home educated throughout the school years.

However, the government suprised us very positively few weeks ago by releasing a document which makes it possible to home educate until the age of 16, when the child leaves compulsory education. This will become the law from the 1st September 2008.

If anyone wants to know more about home education in Estonia then you can always visit our website at (unfortunately not everything is accessible in English).

Source : The Estonian Centre For Home Education

University’s Russian plan draws fire

By Steve Roman

TALLINN - After drawing heavy criticism from Estonia’s Language Commission, the Senate of Tallinn University on Nov. 12 postponed its decision on whether to start a program next year that would let students earn bachelor’s degrees studying in the Russian language.

The planned program, Katariina (Catherine’s) College, envisages offering degrees in humanitarian and social sciences to about 500 students.

They know what you did last summer...and that's why they want YOU !

I´m sure you all have loads and loads of pictures taken in summer universities or during different exchange programs, you´ve taken part of and...now it´s time to share your experience with fellow students !
So...
Check your computers, pick up the nicest ones and...Join AEGEE photo-competition !

Education Action week is organized in 20 European cities, from as westwards as Belgium and Spain to as eastwards as Russia and Azerbaijan between October 21 and 27. Various formats cover multiple topics which have been chosen to satisfy existing information hunger : mobility programs, Bologna Process, life-long-learning, etc. etc – all these terms will get sense after the Education Action Week. Also here in Tallinn !

New academic year has begun. New challenges are ahead, and many of European students will not only get deep into their subjects, but also take an insight in how to make their education more successful, useful and interesting on Education Action week in October.

Here in Tallinn they will organize a photo exhibition about non-formal education, different ways and the importance of it. Students, that have taken part of summer universities or different exchange programs, will share their experiences and through their photos bring to you unforgettable memories, funny moments and pleasant activities.