Estonia to allocate nearly €14 million to vocational schools for education reform — ERR News

In Estonia, vocational schools will receive nearly €14 million in additional state funding next year to implement vocational education reform. Industry representatives stress, however, that a new long-term funding model is needed to achieve the reform's goals, ERR News reports.

Reform goal

Estonia's Ministry of Education and Research aims for at least 40% of basic school graduates to choose applied secondary education by 2035. To achieve this, new four-year programmes specifically aimed at basic school graduates were introduced in vocational education in the current academic year.

Ülle Matsin, head of the ministry's Department of General and Vocational Secondary Education, said that the reform has already affected institutions' needs. In some vocational schools, where more adults previously studied, funding needs are changing due to an increase in the number of basic school graduates. Additional funds are needed, in particular, for teaching materials and other needs.

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Review of the funding model

Kuno Rooba, chairman of the board of the Estonian Association for the Development of Vocational Education, welcomed the decision on additional funding, noting that it shows the industry's problems have been taken into account. At the same time, he said that the current funding model does not provide sufficient resources to meet the reform's goals.

Rooba noted that the previous vocational education and the current applied secondary education differ significantly in content. The new format, he said, requires more funding for teachers, support staff and material resources.

Negotiations on the components of the funding model are due to begin this Friday. The ministry also believes that vocational education funding should correspond to the new conditions and that the funding principles for vocational and general secondary education could be more closely aligned. Matsin added that as the number of students in vocational schools grows, the share of funds allocated to this area will also increase.