Entrepreneurs: fooling teachers will result in painful consequences for us all in the future

According to the opinion of the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, it is extremely short-sighted that political parties are in the process of breaking an agreement made with both the voters and each other in the spring - if the wages of teachers do not quickly catch up with those of other employees with higher education, Estonian education and the economy are at risk of a more serious crisis.

Mait Palts, Director General of the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that two things are most disturbing when looking at the wage dispute between teachers and the Ministry of Education.

"First, there is a situation where the government is not adhering to the agreement with teachers, and secondly, that they are essentially not offering a solution that could help us out of the long-term teacher shortage crisis," said the representative of the entrepreneurs.

The Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has long stressed that the teacher's remuneration must be motivating and comparable to that of other positions requiring higher education. Otherwise, schools will simply be empty of qualified teachers.

"This is already a reality - teachers retire or leave for other reasons, but only 13 new physics teachers have been trained in 10 years, for example. However, the need would be significantly higher, as a significant part of them will leave their work in school in the first year. Whether the reason is wages or other, it is a real and worsening problem. There are no young people interested in working at school and the teachers' crisis is here," Palts said.

The position of the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry is that the key to Estonia's success is cutting-edge education, which requires good teachers that have a supportive environment and motivating wages. It is the responsibility of policy-makers and strategists to ensure that the necessary investments go to where they are needed in time. Strong investment in education, from early childhood education through general and vocational education to higher education, would show that the government still has a vision for the future alongside tax increases.

"A young starting teacher must not receive less wages than their acquaintance with higher education in a similar job in another area of life, and an inspiring career model is also needed, which has also been talked about for many years," said the Director General of the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.