With the study on teachers' working time and tasks, the Ministry of Education wants to map what teachers' duties are under Estonia's current legal acts, determine how much time these tasks take from the perspective of teachers and school leaders, and develop recommendations for education policymakers, school owners, principals, and teachers.

Liis Lehiste, adviser at the ministry's Department of Education Management and Teacher Policy, responded to question about whether the ministry currently lacks such information, saying that the state's goal is to support teachers and help them remain in the profession by contributing to the development of good and sustainable working conditions.

"This requires a better understanding of the factors that influence teachers' workload and their ability to cope well with their work," she said.

Teachers report overload

Lehiste noted that according to the Basic Schools and Upper Secondary Schools Act, a teacher's working time is divided between direct teaching and educational work, and other tasks arising from the employment contract, job description, work‑organization rules, or assignments given by the employer.

According to a government regulation established in 2013, teachers' working time is 35 hours per week.

"Besides contact lessons, a teacher's work includes many other tasks — planning and preparing lessons, giving feedback on students' work, communicating with parents, collaborating with colleagues, individual work with students, and so on. TALIS (the international study of teaching and learning) results show that teachers often assess their workload as greater than their official working time," Lehiste said.

She added that Estonia's education information system collects data on teachers' contact hours, but a teacher's work includes many other tasks beyond lessons, such as planning and preparing teaching, giving feedback on students' work, communicating with parents, collaborating with colleagues, individual work with students, and so forth.

According to the adviser, study results show that teachers often assess their workload as greater than their official working time. Existing studies and data do not clearly show which school‑level factors — such as leadership practices, work organization, and collaboration culture — influence how teachers' workload develops.

"We need an up‑to‑date and comprehensive overview of how teachers' working time is spent, which practices support the efficient use of teachers' working time, and how teachers' work can be organized so that tasks fit within the legally prescribed 35‑hour workweek," Lehiste explained, justifying the need for the study.

The aim of the study is to obtain concrete recommendations for teachers, principals, school owners, and policymakers on how to better organize teachers' work.

"Based on the study results, we can assess what changes may be needed, for example, in work organization, guidelines, professional development, or legal acts," the ministry adviser added.

Age and tenure factors

The study should also determine how teachers' tasks and workload relate to their age, gender, experience, career stage, qualifications, position, type of contract, and other characteristics, and how the situation is influenced by language of instruction, school level, school type and region, school and class size, availability of support specialists, and similar factors.

The Ministry of Education also wants to find out what teachers and principals themselves have done to optimize and better organize workload and tasks, and what recommendations exist to ensure that teachers' duties fit within the legal working time.

The study will be conducted among teachers and leaders of general‑education and vocational schools. The Ministry of Education estimates the cost at €70,000, funded from the state budget.

The ministry hopes to identify the tender winner in autumn, and the study results should be completed within 14 months.

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