The staffing changes have shifted the burden of training new employees onto kindergarten directors as well as experienced assistant teachers and teachers currently on staff.

In Tallinn, the stricter language requirements have led to the departure of hundreds of employees. According to Tallinn Deputy Mayor Andrei Kante (Center), kindergarten directors are actively recruiting new staff, but the situation remains difficult amid a significant shortage of teachers.

"At the moment, we are short about 100 assistant teachers, perhaps a little more. The latest figures are coming in continuously. As we have said before, 300 assistant teachers did not meet the language requirement and 301 of them have left their jobs. In total, even more have left, because in addition to those 300, another 100 employees departed for other reasons or moved from one kindergarten to another. At the same time, recruitment has been fairly successful based on what we currently see in the system. So far, 90 people have been hired," Kante said.

Kante acknowledged that some of the new hires have language proficiency as their only advantage, while employees with strong professional skills but insufficient Estonian had to leave. He said kindergarten directors themselves must bridge that gap.

"To some extent, that is the situation we are facing, but at the same time we had a two-year transition period," Kante said.

"Those who wanted to improve their language skills were naturally able to do so, while those who made a different choice now have to leave. It is quite a crisis-like situation, but I believe we will manage. Ultimately, it is up to each director to assess employees' professional qualifications, and unfortunately that burden falls squarely on kindergarten directors. They have to train these new employees in pedagogical methods on site," the deputy mayor said.

Over 100 people laid off in Narva

A similar situation has unfolded in Narva where the city terminated the contracts of more than 100 kindergarten assistant teachers effective immediately. However, Larissa Degel, head of Narva's Culture Department, said the outcome was not unexpected, as the situation had been clear for months.

"From the moment the requirement took effect, together with kindergarten directors we informed assistant teachers who did not meet the requirement about the deadlines, language-learning opportunities, language exams and so on," Degel said.

"During these two years, all kindergartens either organized language courses at the workplace or adjusted work arrangements to support assistant teachers who needed help learning the language. But at the beginning of the school year that is now ending, in October 2025, Narva's kindergartens employed 206 assistant teachers, of whom 79 met the requirements. Seventy-five were studying, while 52 had Estonian proficiency below the B1 level and it was already clear they would not pursue language studies. So the 108 contracts terminated yesterday unfortunately did not come as a surprise to us," Degel said.

She acknowledged that finding qualified replacements has been difficult, forcing the city to develop creative solutions to train new employees on short notice.

"Among the new employees coming into kindergartens to replace the assistant teachers who have left, there are, of course, some who have no previous experience working in a kindergarten," Degel said.

"But the directors have already planned the necessary additional training for these employees and our cooperation with Tartu Health Care College will certainly be a major help. This spring, we agreed that beginning in September we would organize a child care provider training program here. The first meeting was held on Tuesday when representatives of the college met with prospective participants. Sixty people attended, even though the program has space for only 20, so interest is high," Degel said.

C1 exam too much for assistant teacher

Although the responsibility for training new employees officially falls to kindergarten directors, in practice that work is often carried out by experienced assistant teachers. One of them is Lyudmila, an assistant teacher at a Narva kindergarten who has achieved the required B2 level of Estonian. She would like to work as a teacher and holds the necessary professional qualification, but has been unable to pass the C1 language exam, which she describes as extremely difficult.

"I've tried several times. I've already taken the C1 exam — I don't even remember how many times anymore, maybe six. Actually, more than that, eight times already and it's been going on for more than eight years," Lyudmila told ERR. (Her full name is known to the editors.) She continues to attend language courses but says she has grown tired of repeated failures.

"The last time was in September of last year. The listening section was very difficult for me and I failed. The problem was that the topics were very difficult. The exam included astronomy, which I don't know much about," Lyudmila said.

What frustrates the experienced assistant teacher most is that newly hired teachers with C1-level Estonian qualify for full teaching positions and higher salaries, while assistant teachers earning less are left to teach them how to do the job in practice.

"Young teachers come in, but they have no experience and it's a big problem when assistant teachers have to teach them how to work in practice," Lyudmila said. "They should already know how to do the job. They're earning such high salaries, but I'm the one who has to teach them. Why? Nobody pays me for that work."

Lyudmila added that administrators, such as vice principals for academics, do not have the time to oversee new employees' onboarding or observe their lessons.

As part of Estonia's transition to Estonian-language education, the government on July 25, 2024, clarified the Estonian-language proficiency requirements for education professionals. Beginning August 1, 2026, kindergarten assistant teachers must demonstrate Estonian proficiency at the B2 level, while teachers working under international curricula must meet the B1 requirement starting September 1, 2026.

At the time, Minister of Education and Research Kristina Kallas emphasized that the quality of Estonian-language education depends directly on the language proficiency of education professionals and that clarifying the language requirements was necessary to ensure children and young people receive adequate support in kindergartens and schools transitioning to Estonian-language instruction.

"Everyone working in teaching and educational support who interacts with children on a daily basis influences both Estonian-language instruction and the creation of an Estonian-language environment," Kallas said.

Kindergarten assistant teachers were given two years to bring their Estonian proficiency up to the required B2 level. Until August 1, employees assisting teachers in kindergartens were only required to demonstrate Estonian proficiency at the A2 level.

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