Steve Roman, ERR News
Checks of 237 Tallinn school teachers carried out by the Language Inspectorate during the last academic year found that 140 of them did not have the required Estonian proficiency, according to Deputy Mayor Mihhail Kõlvart.

Kõlvart included the figures in a letter he sent in response to questions by a representative of the Open Republic youth organization.

The letter, the contents of which were made available to rus.err.ee, named 10 Russian-curriculum schools in the capital where teachers were interviewed.

The school with the largest number of teachers that the inspectorate decided to test was the Linnamäe Vene Lütseum, which Kõlvart has advocated turning into a private school to circumvent the state's newly-imposed Estonian-language curriculum requirements. Out of 44 teachers interviewed at the school, only 17 met the proficiency requirements.

The inspectorate ordered the teachers who did not pass muster to take measures to improve their Estonian skills.

According to Kõlvart, the city government organizes free language courses for teachers who have been given such orders, but participation is voluntary. In the February to June period, 101 teachers took part.

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