According to both principal Toomas Kruusimägi and ay director Reemo Voltri, the basic salary of 1,412 euros is far too low. About half of beginning Estonian teachers quit within a few years.
TALLINN It is almost a month until the start of the new school year. Despite that, far too many schools are still recruiting.
There is especially a shortage of mathematics and science teachers, but also teachers of other real subjects.
Principal of Tallinn English School Toomas Kruusimägi does not hesitate in assessing the cause of the teacher shortage that has plagued Estonia for years. Too little salary.
– The nature of the work and the salary do not match, says Kruusimägi to .
Reemo Voltri, chairman of the teaching trade association, agrees.
– The teacher’s salary level must rise to the same level as other academically trained people. Currently, it is about 30 percent lower, Voltri says.
The basic salary of an Estonian teacher is 1,412 euros, which is a little less than half of the salary of a Finnish teacher.
The teaching staff is aging, young people are not continuing
In addition to the teacher shortage, the increase in the average age of teachers causes gray hairs for Estonian principals.
Beginning teachers, on the other hand, do not want to stay in the profession. In Estonia, half of them quit within the first four years.
– Schools need to think about how to support new teachers so that they can cope and stay in their jobs, ay director Voltri insists.
When the teacher shortage hits, the teaching staff ages and young people leave, many schools try to cope as best they can.
– In Estonia, it has become customary to hire students or those without formal qualifications as teachers, Liina Põld, deputy head of the Ministry of Education and Science, tells .
The law allows this temporarily for one year at a time. However, fixed-term contracts are often extended from year to year.
Teaching in Estonian increases the pressure
This year and in the coming years, the shortage of teachers is believed to worsen even more.
After two corona years, teachers have started to quit due to exhaustion caused by exceptional circumstances.
In addition, the Estonian government has decided to use the Estonian language in Russian-speaking schools in Estonia. They must switch to using only the Estonian language in their teaching by 2030.
– The most difficult situation is in the province of Itä-Virumaa. There is already a shortage of teachers who know Estonian, and it will get worse in the next few years, says Liina Põld.
In Eastern Virumaa, 80 percent of the population speaks Russian as their mother tongue. The majority of schools and kindergartens are also Russian-speaking.
According to Põld, the state has already increased places to start teacher training, among other things. However, according to Tarmo Kruusimägi, the situation will not be resolved without an increase in the teachers’ bank account.
– A principled decision on the funding of education and science that crosses party lines is needed. It must not be a question of the economic cycle, states the principal.
If the salary does not rise properly, there may be a labor dispute ahead. Estonian teachers last went on strike ten years ago.
– If the government does not seem to ensure the preservation of high-quality teaching, our task is to pay attention to it by all possible means. One of those means is a strike, says ay director Voltri.
You can discuss the topic until Wednesday at 11 p.m.