TalTech Business Administration Director Merili Reidolf sent a proposal to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications (MKM) on Wednesday to terminate the development of the occupational health and safety specialist training program.

According to Reidolf, the university cannot, within the available timeframe and workload, create a compact online course for occupational health and safety specialists that would provide MKM with a sufficiently thorough and practical learning experience.

In her letter, Reidolf noted that throughout the project it has not been entirely clear to both parties what kind of online courses MKM expects, despite an agreement to develop the modules collaboratively and to continuously coordinate on content and structure. In Reidolf's view, it is not possible to deliver the training in the scope and compact format currently expected by MKM.

"On the one hand, the emphasis is on brevity, while on the other, there is an expectation that topics will be covered thoroughly and from multiple perspectives," Reidolf explained.

The project has also demonstrated that a program of this scale and complexity cannot be effectively designed in a highly compact online learning format on the Digital State Academy platform.

According to Reidolf, MKM stressed that the online courses must be capable of being completed independently and provide a comprehensive overview of occupational health and safety even without in-person instruction.

"Such an objective requires sufficient depth of content and a clearly structured learning path. A very short microlearning format is better suited for providing an initial overview or refreshing knowledge, but it may not be sufficient for developing comprehensive, practical competence," Reidolf wrote.

TalTech therefore believes that, within the framework of the existing curriculum and the agreed workload, it is not possible to create an online course that fully meets the ministry's expectations and for whose quality TalTech, as the provider, could assume responsibility.

TalTech has proposed that MKM terminate the service contract by mutual agreement.

In comments to ERR, Eva Põldis, head of working environment at MKM, said the ministry considers the development and implementation of the occupational health and safety specialist training program important because these specialists are responsible for workplace safety and protecting employees' health within companies.

"It is therefore important that they have the necessary knowledge and skills. As a state, we want to contribute to raising the competence of occupational health and safety specialists and thereby help make workplaces safer," Põldis said.

According to Põldis, MKM has not yet made any payments under the contract.

"The contract is worth €169,000, excluding VAT, but MKM has not made any payments at this stage. Negotiations with TalTech are currently ongoing and after we reach mutual agreements, we will be able to comment on the matter in greater detail," Põldis said.

If the contract is terminated, TalTech wants compensation for work completed to date and work that has been delivered or prepared for delivery to MKM.

"Since the first phase has been properly delivered to MKM, accepted and confirmed by the relevant acceptance document, TalTech believes that costs related to the first phase should be reimbursed, including the work of the project manager, adult education specialist, instructional designer and two training managers," Reidolf said.

TalTech is also seeking reimbursement for work completed during the second phase and for costs related to the development of the modules created so far.

"We will submit a detailed invoice based on the work actually performed and costs incurred. The transfer of materials created during the second phase and the scope of usage rights will be agreed upon when the contract is terminated," Reidolf said.

MKM and TalTech signed the contract in October of last year.

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