Opposition criticises education minister but rejects solo no-confidence motion

Opposition politicians are dissatisfied with Education and Science Minister Kristina Kallas’s work but do not consider it useful to seek her resignation alone, ERR reported. They accuse her of making poorly considered decisions and creating confusion.

Seven Isamaa MPs and three MPs unaffiliated with parliamentary factions submitted an interpellation to Kallas at the beginning of September over the organisation of education reforms, which they said had created uncertainty and confusion for many families and school employees.

“We submitted the interpellation to get more precise information about how the minister intends to end the confusion in schools that began at the end of the previous school year and the start of the new one,” former education minister and current deputy chair of the parliament’s Cultural Affairs Committee Tõnis Lukas told ERR. “Some children still do not have a school place assigned. We demand an end to this confusion.”

Lukas and former education minister Mailis Reps said the problem reflected the poor condition of the government as a whole. Reps identified poorly considered decisions that were not based on existing studies and analyses as one of Kallas’s main shortcomings.

Vadim Belobrovtsev, a member of the Cultural Affairs Committee from the Centre Party, agreed. He said attempts to seek a no-confidence vote against the minister had already been made several times, but had produced no results.

“The Ministry of Education and Science simply launches reforms one after another, but they are insufficiently considered and analysed and, unfortunately, create many problems,” Belobrovtsev said. “Often, these problems arise because one reform coincides with another, producing a result that is the opposite of what was announced or expected. So, naturally, we believe that Kristina Kallas has not managed her ministerial duties. But in addition to discussing a no-confidence vote against her, we should instead discuss a no-confidence vote against the entire government.”

Helle-Moonika Helme, an EKRE member of the Cultural Affairs Committee, said the confusion had several layers.

“The dissatisfaction is already so great that, although there are still a few months until the elections, this does not justify her taking no responsibility for it,” Helme told ERR. “If a new person came in, they could at least admit that mistakes had been made. Mistakes could also be corrected and everything could perhaps be made better, but I do not think Kristina Kallas is that person.”

Liina Kersna, Reform Party chair of the Cultural Affairs Committee and a member of the governing coalition, said the minister had launched important reforms, but staff turnover and budget cuts had made the work more difficult.

“We have had to carry out these reforms. The question has been more about the pace at which they are implemented and how thoroughly they have been discussed with the sector,” Kersna said. “Now, when planning these reforms, they must be implemented properly and the sector must be given certainty about which changes will come, which will not and when they will take place. But the minister’s resignation six months before the elections would not provide that certainty.”

Kersna added that changes in the education sector should be known at least one or two academic years before they are implemented.