Inquiry Regarding Differences in Teacher Salaries (no. 790)
Session: 15th Riigikogu, 6th sitting, plenary sitting
Date: 2025-09-15 22:16
Participating Politicians:
Total Speeches: 47
Membership: 15
Agenda Duration: 33m
AI Summaries: 47/47 Speeches (100.0%)
Analysis: Structured Analysis
Politicians Speaking Time
Politicians
Analysis
Summary
The Riigikogu debated Inquiry No. 790, submitted by Madis Kallas, Züleyxa Izmailova, Anti Allas, Helmen Kütt, Reili Rand, and Riina Sikkut, concerning the regional differences in teachers' salaries. Madis Kallas (SDE), the representative of the petitioners, emphasized that the goal is a constructive dialogue on the topic of educational inequality, which is also reflected in the teacher salary gap. He highlighted that in many local governments, teachers' salaries do not reach 1.2 times the Estonian average, even with local supplementary support, and the issue concerns the linkage of salary to the number of students and the consideration of the specific characteristics of sparsely populated areas.
The Minister of Education and Research, Kristina Kallas, responded that the differences in teachers' salaries are indeed significant and sometimes inexplicable. She gave the example that Tartu County is home to local governments with both the highest and lowest salary levels in Estonia (a difference of 600 euros), which cannot be explained by objective regional factors. The Minister hypothesized that the salary differences stem from the budgetary strategy of the local governments and how teaching positions are planned (e.g., counting support specialists as teachers). She confirmed that the salary coefficient for Ida-Viru County has worked well, bringing 400 new people into the profession over two years. The Minister stressed that the ministry's priority is raising the minimum wage and increasing the differentiation fund (by +2% next year) so that local governments can independently apply subject-based coefficients (e.g., for mathematics teachers). Teachers will also be supported by a new career model, which offers mentorship and salary increases for professional development, rather than solely for taking on extra hours.
Decisions Made 1
No decisions were made
Most Active Speaker
Madis Kallas (from the Social Democratic Party faction), who submitted the interpellation, gave a comprehensive introduction and summary on the importance of the issue, emphasizing the broader regional political dimension of the wage gap. Position: Left.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
The Riigikogu proceeds to the eighth item on the agenda, under which Interpellation No. 790, concerning the differences in teachers' salaries, was submitted on June 2, 2025. The submitters are Madis Kallas, Züleyxa Izmailova, Anti Allase, Helmen Kütt, Reili Ranna, and Riina Sikkut, and the rapporteur is Riigikogu member Madis Kallas.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
Deputy Speaker Arvo Aller announced that the Riigikogu would now proceed to the eighth item on the agenda, which is Interpellation No. 790, submitted by several members of parliament, including Madis Kallas, concerning the disparities in teachers' salaries, and asked Madis Kallas to serve as the rapporteur.
Madis Kallas
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Madis Kallas emphasizes the need for constructive dialogue to resolve the educational and regional inequality prevailing in the Estonian school network. This situation is primarily caused by the significant differences in teachers' salaries across the country, as pay is too closely linked to the number of students. To find common solutions for standardizing salaries and taking regional specificities into account, six questions are being presented to the minister. These questions concern both changing the basis for salary calculation and launching new support measures (such as housing allowances) aimed at valuing the teaching profession.
Madis Kallas
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Madis Kallas urged the minister to establish a meaningful dialogue, focusing on educational inequality and regional disparities in teachers' salaries. He also presented six questions along with proposals for finding solutions, including housing and transport subsidies.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
Deputy Speaker Arvo Aller called Minister of Education and Research Kristina Kallas to the rostrum so that she could answer the submitted interpellation.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
The Vice-Speaker asked the Minister of Education and Research, Kristina Kallas, to answer the interpellation.
Haridus- ja teadusminister Kristina Kallas
AI Summary
Minister of Education and Research Kristina Kallas stated that the significant salary disparities among teachers across different municipalities are large and have not been adequately explained. She emphasized the need to utilize supplementary support measures (including the professional standard for assistant teachers, mentorship, and career models) and to thoroughly examine the correlation between salaries, budgets, and learning outcomes, specifically including the effect of the salary supplement applied in Ida-Viru County.
Haridus- ja teadusminister Kristina Kallas
AI Summary
The Minister of Education and Research, Kristina Kallas, pointed out the significant and inexplicable disparities in teacher salaries among different municipalities (reaching up to 600 euros even within the same county), suggesting that this stems from the differing logic local governments use when planning job positions. She confirmed that the salary coefficient implemented in Ida-Virumaa has successfully attracted 400 new teachers, while simultaneously stressing the need for methodological support to ensure their retention. Furthermore, she noted that learning outcomes correlate solely with the student’s socio-economic background, rather than the teacher’s salary or qualifications. She also presented the ministry’s plans for supporting teachers, which focus on establishing a professional standard for assistant teachers and developing a career model designed to ensure salary growth is based on professionalism, rather than merely an increasing workload.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
Deputy Chairman Arvo Aller offers his thanks and asks Jaak Aab to pose some questions.
AI Summary
Addressing the Minister, Jaak Aab inquired whether, within the framework of the ongoing education agreement—where school maintainers and trade unions are meeting at a common table—the issue has been addressed of how to prevent large salary disparities among teachers with the same qualifications across different regions and schools in Estonia, and whether any solution has been found for this.
AI Summary
Jaak Aab asks, within the framework of the Education Pact, whether a way has been found to reduce the salary differences among teachers with the same qualifications across different regions, and whether any remedy has been found for this.
Haridus- ja teadusminister Kristina Kallas
AI Summary
Minister of Education and Research Kristina Kallas stresses that variations in teachers' salaries within a single county are due to local governments' wage policies, budget priorities, and differing costs of living. She adds that while the high cost of living in Tallinn justifies higher pay, the state cannot treat municipalities disparately.
Haridus- ja teadusminister Kristina Kallas
AI Summary
Minister of Education and Research Kristina Kallas believes that while the salary differences between teachers in Tallinn and other regions are understandable due to the cost of living and larger class sizes, the large wage gap between local governments situated within the same county is unacceptable. She emphasized that this inequality does not stem from the labor market but is directly linked to the local government's own budget strategy and wage policy, given that teachers' salaries clearly correlate with the salaries of other municipal employees.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
Deputy Chairman Arvo Aller calls Peeter Ernits up to the stage.
Peeter Ernits
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Peeter Ernits expressed interest in finding out exactly where those two schools are located, noting that he is a member of a municipal council and that this issue has been worked on for two years, suggesting the solution might be simpler because he is familiar with the lay of the land.
Peeter Ernits
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Peeter Ernits, who is familiar with the terrain of Tartumaa both as a parliamentarian and as a council member, wants to know the exact location of these two schools, suggesting that two years of effort may have been wasted and a simpler solution is within easy reach thanks to local knowledge.
Haridus- ja teadusminister Kristina Kallas
AI Summary
Minister of Education and Research Kristina Kallas refused to publicly name specific municipalities from the Riigikogu rostrum, citing the non-public nature of the data as her justification, but promised to provide those names separately at a later time.
Haridus- ja teadusminister Kristina Kallas
AI Summary
Minister of Education and Research Kristina Kallas promises to name those municipalities later, noting that there is no need to read them out from the Riigikogu rostrum since they are not public data.
Lauri Läänemets
Profiling Sotsiaaldemokraatliku Erakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Lauri Läänemets is asking the minister whether, in order to reduce educational inequality, the state shouldn't move away from a teacher-centric approach and instead focus on a school-based strategy, directing teachers—who would receive better funding and higher salaries—specifically to those schools where standards need to be raised.
Lauri Läänemets
Profiling Sotsiaaldemokraatliku Erakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Lauri Läänemets proposes that the state should increase funding and teachers' salaries on a school-by-school basis, specifically targeting those schools where performance standards fall below the average, rather than focusing solely on teacher mobility, in order to reduce educational inequality and improve the overall quality of schools.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
Deputy Chairman Arvo Aller calls upon Lauri Läänemets.
Haridus- ja teadusminister Kristina Kallas
AI Summary
Education and Research Minister Kristina Kallas stated that they have neither seen nor claimed a correlation between schools' learning outcomes and teachers' salaries. The only correlation they observe is between students' socio-economic background and their learning outcomes. Furthermore, she noted that if the problem stems from outside the education system, the system can mitigate it, but it cannot solve it.
Haridus- ja teadusminister Kristina Kallas
AI Summary
Minister of Education and Research Kristina Kallas emphasized that although the correlation between teacher salaries and learning outcomes has not been studied, a clear link has been found between students' socio-economic background and their results. She hypothesizes that this inequality does not stem from the education system itself, but is rather a symptom of broader regional development and inequality in Estonia. Therefore, the education system should focus more on alleviating this issue and providing a leveling effect, rather than attempting to fully solve the problem, which requires solutions elsewhere.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
Deputy Chairman Arvo Aller invited Riina Sikkut to speak.
Riina Sikkut
Profiling Sotsiaaldemokraatliku Erakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Riina Sikkut inquires of the minister regarding the Ministry of Education and Research's vision concerning teacher salary levels (raising the minimum or the average, regional equalization) and alternatives to per-capita funding. She highlights the necessity of considering the implementation of special salary coefficients (for example, for mathematics teachers) to address the shortage of specialists in critical subjects, drawing a parallel with the regional solution implemented in Ida-Virumaa.
Riina Sikkut
Profiling Sotsiaaldemokraatliku Erakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Riina Sikkut is raising questions regarding teachers' salaries and the funding of education. This includes the minimum, average, and regional equalization of salaries, as well as alternatives to the current capitation-based funding model. Furthermore, she inquires about the possibility of implementing the Ida-Virumaa salary coefficient specifically for mathematics teachers and the discussion of similar solutions.
Haridus- ja teadusminister Kristina Kallas
AI Summary
Kristina Kallas stated that next year the size of the differentiation fund will be increased by 15 million, which will give local governments the opportunity to differentiate salaries, including applying a coefficient for mathematics teachers. However, she prefers a general increase in the fund's volume over implementing a uniform subject-based coefficient at the national level, because the problems are regional and shortages occur in various subjects, especially in rural areas.
Haridus- ja teadusminister Kristina Kallas
AI Summary
Minister of Education and Research Kristina Kallas supports greater differentiation of teacher salaries, emphasizing that in addition to the rise in the minimum salary, the priority is increasing the size of the differentiation fund by 15 million euros. This is intended to give local governments the flexibility to hire teachers with strong subject expertise (such as mathematics or language teachers), as local autonomy addresses the shortage of qualified personnel better than a national uniform subject-based coefficient.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
Deputy Chairman Arvo Aller calls upon Madis Kallas to speak.
Madis Kallas
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Madis Kallas asks the minister, who has frequently met with the trade union representing teachers, whether the topic of the significant differences in teachers' salaries—both between counties and within a single county—was raised during the discussions, despite the union's general objective regarding increasing and valuing teachers' pay.
Madis Kallas
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Madis Kallas is asking the minister whether the trade union has signaled that the disparities in teachers' salaries, either between or within counties, are significant, and whether this issue has become a pressing topic of debate or remains unresolved.
Haridus- ja teadusminister Kristina Kallas
AI Summary
Minister of Education and Research Kristina Kallas said that salary differences between counties and municipalities have not been an issue, and the main focus has been the teachers' minimum salary. However, she suggested that teacher salary disparities could also be discussed, adding that collective agreements can be signed with every local government, giving the union a chance to level out the differences in pay.
Haridus- ja teadusminister Kristina Kallas
AI Summary
The Minister of Education and Research, Kristina Kallas, stressed that while negotiations are centered on the minimum wage for teachers—which is the union's primary stance—the union should use its leverage when signing collective agreements with local governments to pay greater attention to, and equalize, the salary disparities that exist between different counties and municipalities.
Anti Allas
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Anti Allas emphasized that teacher salary differences in local governments are caused by the large disparity in revenue bases, which is why it is necessary to create "Robin Hood 2" alongside the current income redistribution mechanism ("Robin Hood"), and he presented the minister with a question regarding the example of Norway, where the salary coefficient for teachers in peripheral areas is higher than in Oslo.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
This is a brief request addressed to Anti Allas.
Anti Allas
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Anti Allas claims that the differences in teachers' salaries across municipalities stem from very different revenue bases, mentions the Robin Hood solution, and asks why a higher coefficient is paid in remote areas of Norway than in Oslo.
Haridus- ja teadusminister Kristina Kallas
AI Summary
Minister of Education and Research Kristina Kallas explained that education support is paid to local municipalities in the Estonian education system based on a per capita funding model, augmented by a regional coefficient designed to support more distant areas. She repeatedly stressed, however, that they themselves do not directly pay teachers' salaries.
Haridus- ja teadusminister Kristina Kallas
AI Summary
Kristina Kallas explains that in Estonia, education funding is paid to local governments on a per capita basis, along with a regional coefficient, and teachers' salaries are not paid directly.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
Deputy Chairman Arvo Aller asked everyone to listen to the minister's address completely before proceeding with further topics.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
The speech emphasizes that the minister’s words must be heard out completely.
Haridus- ja teadusminister Kristina Kallas
AI Summary
Minister of Education and Research Kristina Kallas explains that instead of teachers' salaries, education support is paid together with per-pupil capitation funding. The distribution of this funding depends on a regional coefficient, and nationally, we only agree on the minimum level. Consequently, local governments receive varying amounts (e.g., Tallinn 2,388 euros, Setomaa 4,636 euros).
Haridus- ja teadusminister Kristina Kallas
AI Summary
Minister of Education and Research Kristina Kallas emphasizes that the state pays education support to local governments to cover teachers' salaries based on per-capita funding, setting only the minimum level. She also highlights that, thanks to the regional coefficient, the support provided in Setomaa municipality is nearly 2,200 euros greater per student than it is in Tallinn.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
Vice-Chairman Arvo Aller concluded the round of questions, noting that the topic had been addressed, and subsequently opened the debate, first giving the floor to Madis Kallas, the representative of the interpellators.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
Vice-Chairman Arvo Aller concludes the round of inquiries, thanks the respondent, opens the floor for debate, and invites Madis Kallas to speak as the representative of the interpellators.
Madis Kallas
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Madis Kallas pointed out that wage disparities in Estonia are considerable, both between different counties and among various officials within local municipalities, and stressed the necessity of ensuring fairer wages and improved services throughout Estonia.
Madis Kallas
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Madis Kallas highlighted Estonia's regional wage disparities, which are noticeable in teachers' salaries but are even more acute among local government officials and specialists. He then asked how to ensure more equitable wages in order to guarantee uniformly high-quality public services across the entire country, regardless of the region.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
Deputy Chairman Arvo Aller announced that the minister did not require any further input, closed the debate, and declared that the eighth item on the agenda had been concluded.