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Russian language abroad: Finnish first-graders started to study Russian
The first-graders in Lappeenranta’s Finnish-Russian School of Eastern Finland started to study Russian.
The Russian language is a fundamental part in the program of the Finnish-Russian School of Eastern Finland, located on three sites: Imatra, Joensuu, and Lappeenranta. Russian is studied four hours a week already in the first grade. Previously, the school used to admit only pupils who started their 5th grade, but this autumn the school has also set up a group of first-graders.
In the entire country, the eagerness to study languages in addition to English and the second official language has been losing steam. Finnish industry has been concerned particularly about the shortage of Finns with Russian-language skills.
The regions of Eastern Finland proposed in May to the Ministry of Education and Culture that the eastern municipalities could offer in their language program Russian as a so-called B1 language, which is a compulsory language started in grades 7 to 9. For those who study Russian, Swedish would be a voluntary language starting from the fourth or eighth grade.
The regions claim that the mandatory status of Swedish no longer meets the reality and requirements of Eastern Finland.
“Very many parents have contacts in Russia through work”, says the Leading Principal Petri Kyyrä. ””, he adds. Kyyrä believes that the growth in the number of pupils in the school is attributable to an increase in Russian tourism and to the softened attitudes. The popularity of the class came as a surprise: in Lappeenranta the number of applicants was 35, but only 24 children could be admitted to the group.