Estonia/Minister/Education and Research

Estonia/Minister/Education and Research  (Minister of Education,  Minister of Research)
Estonian minister of education

The Minister of Education and Research is the senior minister at the Ministry of Education and Research in the Estonian Government. The Minister is responsible for administration and development of Estonian educational system as well as for administration and funding of research and development activities on national level.

The Ministry of Education was re-established in 1989 to replace the Educational Committee of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic. With the restoration of independent Republic of Estonia on 20 August 1991 the Ministry regained its supreme authority on educational issues. In 1993 the ministries of culture and education were merged to form Ministry of Culture and Education. In 1996 a separate Ministry of Education re-established. 2001 the Ministry was relocated to Tartu due to several economic and regional political arguments, but also due to successful lobby by University of Tartu.

On 1 January 2003 the Ministry of Education was renamed to Ministry of Education and Research in order to reflect better its focus and areas of administration. The title of the Minister has changed according to the changes in the name of the Ministry.

Thinking the right way

An leaked document from the British intelligence operation Integrity Initiative stated that "Following the Russian-sponsored cyber-attack on Estonia, the Estonian Government instituted a national programme of cyber security, including education for children and young people. Estonia also accepted to host a NATO Cyber Security Centre of Excellence. The Institute has been in contact with both HQ NATO, which has agreed to give privileged access to the CoE, and with the staff of the Estonian Government Education Programme, who have agreed to make their materials and expertise available to us, and to assist us in setting up our programme. An example of their material is attached."

Estonia is one country hoping to educate its young people to spot fake news. This is part of a broader mandatory strategy to ensure that students from kindergarten to 12th grade learn digital skills and how to stay safe online, says Kristel Rillo, Director of Digital Education at the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research. With this focus on digital competence, she hopes to impart in young Estonians “the kinds of skills you need to find information, and can you make sense of whether the information is correct or not”, Rillo explains. (As usual, the definition of fake news seems to be things not mentioned in corporate media, or 'inconvenient facts and opinions the government doesn't agree with').

Discrimination

An Amnesty International rapport from 2006 found that: "Estonia has a sizeable Russian-speaking linguistic minority which constitutes approximately a third of the population. Persons belonging to this minority enjoy very limited linguistic and minority rights, and often find themselves de facto excluded from the labour market and educational system through a system of rigorous language and citizenship requirements for employment and limited possibilities of studying in minority languages in higher education.

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