Tallinn's deputy mayor Andrei Kante wrote to the Minister of Education and Research Kristina Kallas on July 16. He said that the obligation to study requires closer cooperation between the state and local governments.
Kante said that there are about a thousand young people in Tallinn who have not yet found a place to study. He asked the ministry to assess whether the vacancies match the wishes of young people.
According to Kante, the 513 spots offered by Tallinn Technology College may not appeal to girls.
Tallinn Technology College representatives Kristel Martis and Gähtlin Leppänen spoke on Vikerraadio. They said that technology fields have changed. Martis said: "There is not a single field in our school that girls cannot study."
On July 8, there were still 478 vacancies at Tallinn Technology College. On July 20, the number remained the same. The most popular fields were unmanned vehicle technology, visual media, electrical technology, and logistics.
Martis said that the new school, new schedule, and new curricula affect applications. She said that some fields are less popular because their names have changed.
Admissions to Tallinn Technology College continue until July 31.
Virve Linder from the Ida-Viru Vocational Education Center said that this year's admissions were different from previous ones. Applications started even before graduating from basic school. The school was surprised that many young people thought they could no longer apply to vocational school. In fact, admissions continue in the summer as well.
The most popular field at the Ida-Viru Vocational Education Center was visual media technology. Ninety people applied for 20 spots. The school opened a second study group. On July 8, there were still 473 vacancies.
Eveli Kuklas from the Võru Education and Technology Center said that on July 8, there were 118 vacancies there. The most applications were for the industrial digital technology field.
In Tallinn's AVARA College, basic school graduates can apply for 98 spots. On July 8, there were still 99 vacancies.
School leaders recommend applying quickly, as many applications come in every day. Applications to AVARA College are open until August 10.
The Ministry of Education and Research published an overview of vacancies on July 9.