MARCH 2013

The Minister of Culture confirmed the members of the Supervisory Board of MISA
MISA invites all foreigners living in Estonia to test the new participant portal
The participants of the youth career education project were most interested in enterprise and working abroad

The Minister of Culture confirmed the members of the Supervisory Board of MISA

According to the 14 February directive of Minister of Culture, Rein Lang, the new six-member Supervisory Board of the Integration and Migration Foundation Our People (MISA) took office.

The new board of MISA includes Undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture, Marlen Piskunov, and Members of Parliament, Eldar Efendijev and Deniss Boroditš. Members of Parliament, Mart Nutt and Paul-Erik Rummo, and acting head of the state budget department of the Ministry of Finance, Kaie Koskaru, will continue as members of the board.

At the first meeting held in 26 February, Marlen Piskunov was unanimously elected chairman of the board and Mart Nutt was elected vice chairman of the board.

At the first meeting of the board, the head of MISA, Tatjana Muravjova, gave an overview of the economic activities of the foundation and the activities of the audit committee. The board approved MISA’s plan of action for 2013, according to which MISA will carry out 36 activities in total this year, including holding 15 project competitions and numerous tendering procedures.

The task of the board is supervising the foundation’s activities. The Supervisory Board shall comprise up to thirteen members, who shall be appointed by a decree by the Minister of Culture for a term of three years.

MISA’s task is to encourage integration processes in Estonian society and co-ordinate and support activities related to immigration and emigration and publish relevant information.

For additional information, please contact: Tatjana Muravjova, manager of MISA, phone 659 9021, e-mail [email protected]

MISA invites all foreigners living in Estonia to test the new participant portal

The Integration and Migration Foundation Our People (MISA) invites all foreign nationals living in Estonia to take part in a pilot project concerning migration and test the website that supports adapting to life in Estonia.

Estonia is taking part in an international pilot project that has resulted in a pilot version of an information portal assembling information on migration laws, job market, support services, etc. in different states.

The migration web platform will make it easier for immigrants to find essential information on migration, since to date the relevant information of the European Union and separate member states has been dispersed between different offices and is therefore difficult to find for the target group. Additionally, the platform makes it possible to express opinions, take part in improving services and policies, and compare practices of different states.

“The main aim of the project is to provide immigrants, migration policy makers, officials and experts with modern information technology instruments for getting information, participating in decision-making processes, collecting feedback and making the shaping and application of migration policy more inclusive,” Tea Tammistu, Coordinator of the Civil Education and Migration Unit, said.

Estonia participates in the pilot project ImmigrationPolicy2.0 with Germany, Italy, Greece and Spain. The information portal is open for testing in Estonian, English, Russian, Spanish, Italian, German, Turkish, Greek and Serbian.

“All non-Estonians who would like to contribute to making it easier for foreigners to adapt to Estonian life, finding information and having a say in society should contact us and test the platform. Estonians, whose foreign acquaintances have moved to Estonia in the past few years, are very welcome to spread the information,” Tammistu appealed.

MISA asks all people interested in increasing the user-friendliness of the migration portal to contact the foundation via e-mail ([email protected]).

The project is funded from the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme of the European Commission and by the Estonian Ministry of Culture.

The migration project can be accessed here!

For additional information, please contact: Tea Tammistu, Coordinator of the Civil Education and Migration Unit, phone 659 9027, e-mail [email protected]

The participants of the youth career education project were most interested in enterprise and working abroad

On 27 February, the closing event of the European Social Fund’s project “Offering career education services for Russian-speaking students of vocational schools” was held, recognising all those who contributed to the career education of students and thanking all co-operation partners who participated in the project.

From the spring of 2012, more than 1,600 students of vocational schools from Tallinn and Ida-Virumaa took part in the project, acquiring skills for getting to know themselves, the labour world, career planning and necessary skills for succeeding in the job market. In the course of the project, all participants were able to pass 1-2 career education subjects.
According to a participant from Sillamäe, the courses were intense and interesting and the information was easily understandable and available: “The questions asked at the training were related to the job market, finding employment and the expectations of employers. Sometimes the discussions were held in the format of games and practical exercises were also solved in the course of the training.”

According to career counsellor Jelema Lohmatova, who held career education lessons for second year students of Sillamäe Vocational School, making video clips, Steve Jobs’s speech, a cartoon about motivation, perseverence and job interviews were most popular among the students. “There was also great interest in dealing with various contracts and the discussion on undeclared income. After the training, many youths asked about becoming an entrepreneur and whether it is worth establishing a company with their friends. There were a lot of questions about working abroad. The students liked sharing their thoughts, experiences of their parents and friends and their future plans,” Lohmatova commented.

Prior to the career education courses, 35 vocational school teachers and career counsellors went through methodical additional training on training students of Russian-speaking vocational schools. Also, the project resulted in the publication “Your Own Path” in two languages and employment data sheets in Estonian and Russian for subjects worked out by career guidance. Additionally, the publication “Career education guidebook for vocational schools” by the Innove foundation was adapted to Russian-speaking students and the additional teaching material “Integrating career education with practical training” was translated.

The project was carried out in 2011-2013 within the framework of the measure ‘The development of student-centered and innovative vocational education and broadening opportunities for lifelong learning’ under the priority axis Lifelong Learning, of the operational programme for Human Resource Development, funded by the European Structural Fund.

Additional information: Liilika Raudhein, co-ordinator of the Lifelong Learning Unit, phone 659 9841, e-mail [email protected]