Free vocational education in Russian to be discontinued in Estonia from 2026

Estonia will stop supporting free vocational education programs in foreign languages, including Russian, starting from 2026.

According to the Ministry of Education, out of the 25,000 students currently enrolled in vocational education, approximately 3,000 will be required to pay for their studies, Caliber.Az reports, citing Estonian media.

"Education will become paid for adults who already have a higher education obtained within the last ten years or professional education acquired within the last five years. Education will also be paid for those who are enrolled in multiple programs at the same time. We have a record where one student was studying 14 programs simultaneously. Free education will only be available for one program," explained Kristina Kallas, the Minister of Education and Science.

The Ministry of Education has calculated the costs for vocational education and set the rates. The cost per academic credit will range from 35 to 85 euros, depending on the specialty, with the exception of music and arts programs, where the price per credit will range from 200 to 250 euros.

"For instance, in handicrafts, where the price for one academic credit is 70 euros, the total cost for a full year of study for an adult would amount to 4,200 euros. Therefore, an adult wishing to change their profession or enter a different job market will need to have 4,200 euros," said Kaspar Kaugia, Director of Tallinn Applied College.

Among the most popular so-called "hobby specialties" have been floristry, sewing, auto bodywork, stove construction, furniture restoration, and gardening. Vocational institutions are unsure how much the number of students will decline due to these changes.

"We have many adults in agriculture at the fourth level to qualify for investment support. Beekeeping has been a popular field, but we’ll see how things develop. There is still the possibility of free education, but we’ll see how many students meet the new criteria. Based on this, we will decide how many paid places to offer and at what price," said Arnold Pastak, Director of Olustvere School of Service and Agriculture.

By Tamilla Hasanova