In the 2024/2025 academic year, 1867 teachers work in Estonian state schools. Of these, 379 teachers or 20% do not meet the qualification requirements. In private schools, three schools have 100% qualified teachers: MTÜ Edu Valem, MTÜ International Educational Association of Estonia, and Tallinn Finnish School. The fewest qualified teachers are in Gaia School (50%), Metsküla School (50%), Emili School (53%), and the Orthodox Education Association 'Resurrection' (52%). On average, private schools have 76% qualified teachers.
In municipal schools, the most qualified teachers are in Setomaa Municipality (98%). In Saarde Municipality schools, 92% and in Ruhnu Municipality, 91% of teachers are qualified. On Vormsi Island, however, only 54% of teachers are qualified. In Lüganuse, 53% and in Maardu, 54% of teachers are qualified. In total, municipal schools have 77% qualified teachers.
The Ministry of Education and Research may impose a fine on schools if they have too few qualified teachers. The fine is not a punishment but a tool to help schools meet the requirements. Minister Kristina Kallas said that all teachers must meet the qualification requirements and this is a temporary problem that needs to be solved.
Kallas emphasized that teachers must continuously improve themselves. School management plays a significant role in raising the qualifications of teachers. The state has allocated millions of euros for teacher training. For the years 2023-2029, 26,482,500 euros are planned for further training. In addition, the state supports working in a multilingual and multicultural environment with 6,531,885 euros.