United electoral bloc pushes bilingualism

[Harold F. Schiffman]

>>From the Baltic Times,

United electoral bloc pushes bilingualism

By TBT staff

According to the draft, the City of Tallinn must communicate with
Russian-speakers in their native language as according to Article 51 of
the Constitution. The electoral bloc is also applying for the preservation
of Russian-medium secondary education after 2007. Project authors agree
that some subjects should be taught in Estonian in Russian schools, as
long as respective preparations are guaranteed and the board of trustees
has given its consent.

Tallinn, for its part, must ensure professional Estonian teaching in
Russian-medium schools. The draft consists of 15 points, including a
proposal to stop the privatization of municipal cultural institutions. The
Linnahall Concert Hall, the Salme Cultural Center, the Botanical Garden
and the Russian Cultural Center are quoted as examples. The council
consists of representatives from the Estonian United Peoples Party, the
Russian Party in Estonia, the Left Party and several other public
organizations.

During their Aug. 2 meeting, the council decided to publish the draft for
public discussion. The ticket of the electoral bloc should be drawn up by
the middle of this month. Estonian United Peoples Party deputy chairman
Anatoli Yegorov told the Baltic News Service that ideally, the ticket
could be composed of 123 people. He said about 80 of them could be members
of Estonian United Peoples Party and about 40 could come from the Left
Party. Yegorov said that the Russian Party could be represented by members
of the Lasnamae chapter.

http://www.baltictimes.com/hot1.php?art_id=14316