The main teachers' union in Estonia has expressed concern over a newly-formed group which has questioned the requirement for the vaccination of school staff coming into the new school year. The new organization's name, in particular, is misleading, the union says.
Teachers minimum salary level will be rise by 3 percent next year according to the state budget strategy, totaling €1,354.
The increase will cost the government €12 million and €400 million in total will be spent on teachers salaries in 2022. The projected average salary for teachers will be approximately €1,586.
Minister of Education Liina Kersna (Reform) is looking for ways to further increase teachers salaries. Estonia invests 6 percent of its GDP in education, of which we are in the top three in Europe. At the same time, the salaries of our teachers are among the lowest in the European Union. Which shows that there is clearly too little money spent on education to value our highly qualified teachers, she said.
The first national exam for high school graduates is taking place on April 19. With one week to go, confusion reigns around whether the exams are to be voluntary for the first time in history and what that decision would mean for teachers.
Teachers are going through an anxious time, ERR reports. The first national exam is in a week, but it is still not confirmed whether the exams will be voluntary or not.
The Estonian Education Personnel Union, the Estonian Association of Heads of Schools and the Estonian School Student Councils Union have sent a public appeal to the Riigikogu s cultural committee to not bind graduating high school to exam results, mainly due to concerns around disruption in education caused by remote learning over the past year.
0 >Doctors were the first to be vaccinated for COVID-19 in Tallinn on December 27. Source: Ken Mürk/ERR
While the first shipment of the long-awaited AstraZeneca vaccine arrived in Estonia on Sunday, the 7,200 doses are currently in storage as schools are still drawing up and sending their lists of vaccine applicants to the Ministry of Education and Research.
Last Thursday, February 4, the government approved a decision to add education workers to the list of frontline workers, prioritized for vaccinations. The next day, the Ministry of Social Affairs gave the Ministry of Education the responsiblity to gather up lists of vaccine applicants from education establishments.