Nearly one in five Tallinn graduates lacks a school place

Nearly one in five students who graduated from basic school in Tallinn does not yet know where they will study when the new school year begins in two weeks, ERR reported. Karl Erik Kirss, chairman of the Estonian Union of Student Councils, said students without a place urgently need clear information about their options.

According to Tallinn’s education department, 851 young people in the capital still had no school place as of Wednesday. “The new school year begins in two weeks, and in our assessment this is a problem,” Deputy Mayor Andrei Kante said.

Education Minister Kristina Kallas said the figure was not accurate because some accepted students had not yet been entered into the education information system during the summer holidays. She also said some schools were still accepting applications until August 31.

“Some schools have really left this continuing admission until the very last moment. For example, Tallinn Technology College is currently accepting applications for 230 study places,” Kallas said. She added that the actual number of students without any school place might become clear over the next two weeks.

Preparatory study has been offered as one option for students who have not found a suitable way to continue their education after basic school. In Tallinn, however, those places have also been filled.

“Preparatory study was supposed to be an emergency option to allow students to continue their education. Unfortunately, the current situation turned out to be the opposite: the preparatory study places were filled first,” Kante said.

Kallas said Tallinn had admitted students to preparatory study who had not applied to other schools, including vocational schools, upper secondary schools or vocational secondary schools. She said students whose Estonian or mathematics skills were not yet strong enough should not necessarily be directed straight into preparatory study.

Kirss said the students suffering in the current situation were those who still did not know what their daily lives would look like in two weeks. “Many students no longer even have a plan B, but a plan E, because all the options have fallen through,” he said.

Kirss said assigning a student a place at a school they had strongly opposed would not be an adequate solution. He called for students without places to receive clear information as soon as possible about what they should do next, including whether they should wait for a message from the state, contact schools or look for information in the media.

Tallinn is ready to cooperate with the Education Ministry to create additional preparatory study groups.