Liina Kersna: We have overlooked where the reform is already working

Minister of Education and Research Liina Kersna. Photo: Sander Ilvest

Minister of Education and Research Liina Kersna (Reform) is looking at a crestfallen education landscape.

You found in an opinion piece published last June that Center Party chairman and then PM Jüri Ratas whom you characterized as an elocutionist is not open to cooperation. Has your attitude toward the Center Party changed?

The context where I said it saw the government emphasize how they are creating a coherent society while regularly insulting various social groups. Referring to gynecologists as murderers was not unheard of at the time. This caused me to suggest that actions were not in line with words.

Has your attitude toward the Center Party changed now?

Attitude – well, we represent different ideologies and a coalition takes at least two participants. Democracy and elections make it possible to form a coalition between different partners. We cannot form a coalition on our own and thank God for that as I believe a coalition government represents a larger part of society.

You have been minister of education and research for a week. What has fit inside that first week?

I met with target groups last week, heads of schools, for example. I also met with University of Tartu education specialists. I will be meeting with preschool education experts today after which will come teachers’ organizations, school psychologists and hobby education. Education is clearly in a crisis today. Teachers are exhausted as the instability we have had for almost a year has clearly resulted in fatigue and health problems. We will try to involve, listen to and find solutions together with target groups in our policy.

You have visited around 100 schools. What have you taken away from those meetings?

For example, teachers of the Võru City Center School asked us to change the system where teachers have to translate verbal assessments into marks one through five in subjects like physical education or arts. This is currently mandated by the Basic Schools and Upper Secondary Schools Act. Well, we can fix that.

What would giving marks between one and five take away from students?

It provides little feedback. That’s the problem. I do not think we should switch to verbal evaluation in full. There are many different grading systems, including 10-point scales, 100 percent scales – and I’m sure verbal and marks-based systems can also be combined – that would be ideal.

What about the other administrative area of your ministry – research?

During my first full day in office, I phoned the rectors of all public law universities to introduce myself. I will meet them in person in the Research and Development Council in Stenbock House next week, whereas I will also meet with the Estonian Council of Rectors the week after next. We know that Estonia has decided to invest 1 percent of GDP in research and development that constitutes a good development. It is a good time to step into the shoes of the education and research minister in that sense, while higher education is clearly underfunded today. How to solve that problem is what we need to discuss. The coalition agreement states that we will consider boosting the share of private funding, while that is all we will be doing for now.

The coronavirus is the number one topic also in education. It has required a lot of changes and adjustment from a system that is usually slow to respond. How has the situation been handled?

In truth, we have done well under these difficult circumstances. Compared to other countries, Estonia was relatively well-prepared for remote learning. We have managed, while that does not mean everything is okay. On the contrary. Heads of schools tell me they have all but reached their breaking point and are tired and stressed out. School employees and parents have been forced to make do in what is a highly unstable environment for nearly a year. I believe it is very important to help schools today. I met with the association of school managers on Friday and they said it would be helpful if we could send students to help teachers. Both the University of Tartu and Tallinn University responded favorably to the idea and over one hundred students have said they would be willing to help. Heads of schools told us that teachers need supervision as many are close to burning out. The ministry has the means to help.

What to do to make sure no student would be left with gaps in their education from remote learning?

There are gaps, no doubt. The World Bank forecasts that children all over the world have fallen behind 0.3-0.9 years. A gap in knowledge. The question is how to offer students the opportunity to fill those gaps. We have put together a crisis exit strategy for the education system. It includes concrete proposals of how to fill in these gaps.

How to find them first?

We can determine the deficit through exams and standard-determining tests. Once we know who and where to help, we can offer intensive courses or additional lessons in those subjects. For example, children who have fallen behind in geography will not be held back but can instead take extra geography lessons in the next grade.

Do I understand you correctly in that children who have fallen behind will have to double their workload in the next grade?

I will not say double. While there might be students who will need help with a lot of subjects, most need to catch up in only a few areas.

What about final exams this year?

We canceled graduation exams last year, while we would definitely like to have them this year to determine who has gaps and where. What we need to decide is whether to change the graduation threshold or untie exams from graduation altogether.

Should education workers, teachers be vaccinated against COVID-19 ahead of other groups?

The state wants to keep schools open for as long as possible, while we know that it is impossible to avoid close contacts there. Therefore, if we say as a country that we want to keep schools from closing, we are forcing teachers to work in a high-risk environment, whereas we know that half of our teachers are over 50 and one-fifth is over 60. Half of teachers over 60 years of age are working full-time. Considering all of these aspects, I believe it would be sensible to vaccinate teachers. Immunizing teachers would hopefully keep the case rate in check even as schools are reopened.

The coalition agreement makes mention of a universal Estonian education development plan to give everyone equal opportunities for participating in social and professional life and continue studies on the next education level. What does the plan entail in more detail?

Statistics suggests that Russian-speaking parents have been putting this reform the state has not found the courage to pursue into practice for years. Russian families are increasingly putting their children in Estonian kindergartens and schools. Looking at all Russian-speaking students, half of them are already attending Estonian educational institutions. The problem is that we have tried to support Russian schools so they could teach Estonians and some subjects in Estonian while overlooking where the reform is already working. If Estonian schools already have Russian students, we need to support them more, and that is something we will get done.

Leaving aside the work of a politician, would you be willing to teach in a rural school for what teachers are currently paid? And what subject would you like to teach?

I think that social education is all I’m qualified to teach, and I believe that is precisely the position I will find myself in one day.