I see from the Estonian pages of this newspaper that the Estonian language newspaper in Sweden is in danger of shutting down because of declining readership and loss of government support. As this paper noted, it would be a sad thing if that were to happen.

Apparently, unlike the North American Estonian publications, that paper never had a Swedish language section. Whether or not this played a role in its decline is an open question. It will be interesting to see if the English language section of this paper helps keep it going. Certainly from a personal perspective, my wife and children have started reading it and the wife hasn’t grumbled about the cost of subscription to the print version.

If we are able to get readers to contribute articles that they think may be of interest, it could be a way of reaching and retaining those who live outside easy driving distance of the GTA that are still interested in keeping in touch with the Esto Canadian scene. Some of the ultranationalists may regard the English language pages as “linguistic and cultural pollution”, but I think that the publishers of the paper made the right decision. Only time will tell.

I gather from recently reading Dr. Aun’s book that the Swedish government from the start supported separate full time private schools for Swedish Estonians with all subjects being taught in Estonian (except languages of course) by Estonian teachers.

I note that the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (EMFA) on its web site currently shows that only two Estonian schools appear to be operating in Sweden (Stockholm and Lund) whereas in 1988 there were 24. An important school in Göteborg was shut down in 1994. In short, one concludes that the Estonian Swedish society seems to be fading away there at an even more rapid pace that that of Canada.

Canada is shown by EMFA as having only two supplementary (that is after regular school hours) Estonian schools, one in Toronto and the other in Hamilton. This information may be dated (1999) as I believe a small school exists in Ottawa. If any readers have updated information they should email the Estonian Ministry of Foreign affairs. (If you do, you might point out to them that British Columbia is not in the USA.)

One answer for the decline in Sweden might be that the older generation of pedagogues, having actual day to day power in the formal educational system, so put off the next generation with their zeal to remain Estonian, that their captive audience fled into the regular school system at the first opportunity, never to return.

Another might be that the Swedish “melting pot” was even more effective that that of North America. Certainly, as far as customs and culture went, Estonians would naturally feel more comfortable in a sophisticated Nordic country. Also, since Sweden really had no other immigrants, it was able to absorb the rather small non-visible, mainly Lutheran group quite easily, especially one that was so highly educated and similar in its value system.

Another might be that the population in Sweden was dispersed over a wider geographical area in several large cities. This, however, is a debatable point given that these cities were fairly close in an area not larger that Southern Ontario with excellent transportation facilities.

Those of us with right of centre views may feel that the mistakes the Swedish Estonians made was to let themselves become entirely dependant on government support in a socialist society. Once the support was withdrawn because of political pressure and spending deficit concerns as well as an aging membership, their situation and ossified mindset were such that they could no longer survive on their own.

So what does this mean for us? One (I seem to have picked up several) of my anonymous critics in the electronic version of the paper feels that the solution is to set up full time Estonian language schools and to hire teachers from the fatherland. This, it is felt, should be relatively easy given low levels of pay there and the fact that church ministers have been successfully recruited in the past. It is felt that possibly the Estonian government will support this financially although it is difficult to seem how they could afford to do this for the foreseeable future.

Since the Swedish model supported by government funds apparently could not deliver expected results, it would be a stretch to expect most parents to fully fund a separate school although if the will is there it is possible. As far as keeping the paper going, it’s really up to you to support it both financially and with your input.

I’m not a journalist, and I receive no remuneration from the paper. I started writing these articles almost by accident, with encouragement from Tõnu Naelapea. I see from the electronic version comments posted that I’ve managed to get lively discussion going on important topics. Those of you who took the time to post those comments should perhaps consider writing and submitting articles for the paper yourselves, either in English or Estonian.

Märkmed: