The response of the Ministry of Education and Research to the public address "For the Protection of Teachers' Page" made by representatives of the following organizations to the Prime Minister, Minister of Education and Research, Minister of Culture and Minister of Finance on 2 June 2022: Estonian Association of Educators, Estonian Parents Association Association of Kindergarteners, Riga Estonian Basic School.
The publication of a publication aimed at the teaching staff is especially important for the Ministry of Education and Research. We have supported it for a long time and will continue to do so.
The publisher of the page is the Kultuurileht Foundation, which has been supported by the Ministry of Culture in publishing the Teachers' Page in addition to the Ministry of Education and has also contributed from the gambling tax. In addition, the Teachers' Page earns its own income.
A one-year agreement on the use of state budget support is currently in force between the Kultuurileht Foundation and the Ministry of Education and Research. The current agreement does not provide for agreements for 2023. However, the agreement stipulates that during 2022 negotiations will take place between the parties to specify the scope and purpose of support for 2023, including a review of the development goals and concept of the Teachers' Page.
Discussions are currently taking place with the Kultuurileht Foundation on how the cooperation could continue and how, as far as possible, to create a worthy and meaningful publication for our teaching staff, based on the expectations and needs of today's and future readers. To this end, several meetings have taken place with representatives of the Ministry and the Kultuurileht Foundation.
The last meeting took place on 30 May, when it was agreed that the ministry and the Teachers' Page would set up a working group to draw up a concept for the page in the near future. The working group will meet in early August and will involve other stakeholders interested in developing the site.
As already mentioned, the amount of support for 2023 has not been decided. In other words, there is no fact referred to in the application - that the operating grant for Teachers' Page will be reduced by a third and the paper edition will be abolished.
The Ministry of Education and Research wants to work together to focus on the vision and content of the publication offered to educators. We are very interested in the development concept of the Teachers' Page with the budget being completed by the autumn, after which we will also decide on further funding.
