The government will allocate a differentiation component of 22 percent for each teaching position, meaning teachers are paid a salary in line with their career level, responsibilities and professional duties.

The minimum wage for teachers is set to increase by 8.2 percent, or €150 a month, the ministry announced on Thursday.

According to Minister of Education and Research Kristina Kallas (Eesti 200), the salary increase and the career model for teachers due to come into force this March will contribute to the growth of the teaching profession.

"In this sense, it is money without a prescribed purpose – every school has different needs. Some schools need to provide more learning support to students with general needs, while others need to organize additional Estonian language instruction. Teachers' salaries are differentiated accordingly," said Kallas.

Kallas added that, together with the recent tax changes, the average monthly net income of education workers taking home a teachers' salary will increase by €319 this year, leaving teachers with €3,828 more take-home pay per year.

However, in general, every teacher at a school performs additional work-related tasks, meaning the estimated average salary for teachers will rise to €2,403 a month. Taking Mustamäe State High School in Tallinn as an example, only two teachers among the entire staff roster currently receive the national minimum wage. The salaries of the other teachers are all above the Estonian average.

"It should not be forgotten that Mustamäe State High School is the largest high school in Estonia, with classes that have very large numbers of students. I believe that we manage our finances quite effectively, which means that we have more resources to invest in teachers' salaries. Of course, we cannot talk about the minimum wage in general terms, and the salary statistics are perhaps a little distorted, especially in cities and particularly in Tallinn, for example, where I dare say that several hundred teachers are clearly performing a heavy overload," said Raino Liblik, director of Mustamäe State High School.

"The changes can be implemented individually for each school or jointly for all the schools in a single municipality. For example, Tallinn is a very large city with dozens of schools – the career model could therefore be implemented uniformly for all schools in Tallinn," said Kallas.

At first glance, implementing the new career model may seem overly bureaucratic, but there is no benefit in jumping to conclusions, said Õnnela Leedo-Küngas, principal of Tallinn's Nõmme Basic School.

At first glance, implementing the new career model may seem overly bureaucratic, but there is no benefit in jumping to conclusions, said Õnnela Leedo-Küngas, principal of Tallinn's Nõmme Basic School.

"I am sure that they will involve school principals, and we, in turn, can involve teachers to develop this model together. I think that a foundation like this is good, and I would like to build my school's model on top of it," Leedo-Küngas added.

The government will also increase the teachers' salary fund by 10 percent from its 2025 level.

The minimum wage for teachers applies to those who meet the qualification requirements, are currently in teacher training, hold a master's degree or are in the process of acquiring one.

On March 1 this year, Estonian will introduce a national career model for teachers, which defines career levels based on professional standards and corresponding salary coefficients.

According to the career model, the minimum salary for teachers (€1,970 a month), will be paid to beginner teachers and teachers at entry level.

The salary coefficient for senior teachers is 1.1 times that of the minimum – €2,167 a month –, and for highly experienced teachers, 1.3 times the minimum, or €2,561 per month.

---

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!