The Ministry of Education and Research said that nearly 15,000 young people graduated from basic school this year. Of these, 11,934 have chosen a place of study. The supplementary admission period runs from July 1 to August 31. Applications can be submitted through schools' web environments. For applications submitted in early July, responses may not be received before July 15.
The highest number of young people who have not yet started studying are in Harju County and Tallinn. At the same time, some regions have more vacancies than young people. For example, in Ida-Viru County, there are 194 young people who have not started studying and 593 vacancies. In Tartu County, there are 312 young people who have not started studying and 606 vacancies. In Viljandi County, there are 62 young people who have not started studying and 295 vacancies.
In Estonia, there are a total of about 4,100 vacant places in upper secondary schools and vocational institutions. The most vacancies are in Tallinn Polytechnic College, where 478 young people can study. Ida-Viru Vocational Education Center has 473 vacancies. The fewest vacancies are in Hiiumaa (17) and Põlva County (85).
The overview includes 109 upper secondary schools and vocational institutions. In Tallinn, for example, the French Lyceum still has eight vacancies and the 32nd Secondary School has seven. There are also vacancies in state-run upper secondary schools.
Külli Solo, project manager at the Ministry of Education and Research, said that most vacancies are in vocational institutions. The ministry hopes that more young people will choose vocational education instead of upper secondary school. Statistics show that about 40% of upper secondary school graduates do not continue their studies but start working. This means they often lack a specialty and vocational skills, making it more difficult to enter the labor market.
As part of the education reform, attention is being paid to career counseling so that basic school graduates can better assess their strengths. Starting this fall, compulsory education will apply to basic school graduates. This means that even those young people whose basic school final exam results were below 50% must continue their education.
Preparatory education has also been created in schools. This is intended for young people who do not find a place in basic or supplementary admission. Preparatory education lasts one academic year and helps young people prepare to acquire vocational or secondary education. It is also for those whose Estonian language needs improvement and for young people up to 26 years old who are neither studying nor working. The state has created 747 places in preparatory education.