Alo Savi, head of the vocational education and skills policy department, said there is considerable confusion among the public on this issue.

He said under the law, the language of instruction for vocational secondary education curricula is Estonian and has been for "quite some time already".

"The owner of the school decides on any other language of instruction, but generally it is Estonian. The act also clearly states that if formal study is conducted in another language, the state does not pay for it — in other words, it is not free for the student, and the learner must pay," Savi told ERR.

The official said no curriculum in another language has opened in Estonian state vocational education institutions in the 2025/2026 academic year.

"Some instruction may take place in another language, but the curricula to which students have enrolled and which are covered by the state education order are already in Estonian in state schools as of this year," he said.

Savi acknowledged that the ministry and state vocational schools need to raise additional awareness about the transition to Estonian-language vocational education.

"The difference between formal study and continuing education may not seem significant to the public, but in reality they are completely different things. The same applies to what is state-funded and what is company-commissioned formal or continuing education," the department head said.

"Writing and explaining these concepts in a clearer and more understandable way will certainly be extremely important in the coming years. I also think that the public does not fully understand that Estonian-language curricula have already been fully implemented in all state vocational education institutions. And this happened several years ago," he added.

Savi emphasized that the transition to Estonian-language curricula was defined significantly earlier.

"Only transitional clauses remain: at present, until the 2029/2030 academic year, up to 40 percent of the prescribed study volume in vocational secondary education curricula may be in another language. In vocational secondary education, instruction must be fully in Estonian in the 2030/2031 academic year," he outlined.

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