In the current economic situation it is practically impossible to add any increases to the state budget, because revenue from economic growth only covers previously indexed expenses, such as pensions and defense spending, said Minister of Education Kristina Kallas (Eesti 200).

This means that finding additional money for the education sector is extremely difficult. "We can plan a salary increase for teachers only if we cut somewhere. We would have to move money from somewhere else, take it away from someone, so that we could make a salary increase for teachers," Kallas said.

The minister does not consider the union's demand to raise next year's minimum salary to the Estonian average — €2,312 — to be realistic.

"I certainly don't consider it realistic that the minimum salary for teachers is the Estonian average salary, because most people in Estonia do not earn the average salary. In an ideal world, every education minister would say that a teacher actually deserves such a salary. Absolutely, this work brings very strong returns to society in the future. But simply, money is a finite quantity, and in reality we just do not have it in the state budget today," the minister noted.

In addition to salary issues, Kallas says the growing workload of teachers also needs to be addressed, a burden amplified by the increasing number of children with special needs.

Kallas pointed to fresh PISA results, which show that Estonia has the lowest student‑teacher ratio in Europe and a very large number of small high schools that consume a significant share of education funding. Due to demographic changes, the number of children entering school will begin to fall by 3,000 starting in 2028, reducing the per‑capita funding that municipalities use to pay teachers' salaries.

Teachers want long‑term security

Reemo Voltri, representative of the Education Workers' Union emphasized that the difficult state budget situation must not lead to compromises in education quality. According to him, teachers' minimum expectation is a €2,300 minimum salary or fulfillment of the pre‑election promise to keep teachers' calculated average salary at 120 percent of the national average.

"If teachers' salaries continue to fall compared to the national average — which they have done under this government — then this is a very ominous message for current teachers and future teachers," Voltri warned.

"This shows that we do not value the teaching profession, and as a result there is a high likelihood that the quality of our education will begin to decline, as highlighted in the OECD PISA analysis," he added.

Teachers are ready for compromises and would accept a smaller increase than requested, provided that the state budget strategy offers long‑term certainty for fulfilling promises in the coming years, Voltri said. However, they are not willing to accept a relative decline in salary.

"What teachers definitely will not accept is being told that salaries will not rise at all — meaning we immediately fall five or six percentage points behind average wage growth. That cannot be accepted," he added.

He recalled that during the previous strike, a €71 increase was achieved even in a situation where a raise was considered impossible, and added that on 14 September there will be a demonstration by education workers in front of the Riigikogu. If necessary, Voltri does not rule out new work stoppages.

Municipalities face difficult choices

Randar Lohu, head of the financial service of Saku municipality in Harju County, noted that a strong increase in the national minimum salary for teachers puts local governments in a difficult position when paying other employees. According to Lohu, teachers in Saku already earn €2,400–€2,500 gross, which is higher than the Estonian average, but constant national pressure requires additional resources.

"Of course there is hobby education, other teachers, and all sorts of other municipal institutions, and we may not be able to raise the salaries of those employees to the same extent if schoolteachers' salaries rise by ten‑plus percent," Lohu explained.

"Then all the other people are left without a salary increase, but we have about 650 people to whom we pay salaries every month," Lohu said.

According to Lohu, municipalities are currently waiting for more precise numbers from the state budget negotiations, which should become clear later this month.

Education workers, state representatives, and municipal specialists will meet again in two weeks to discuss the minimum salary for teachers.

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