TALLINN - Estonia's alarming demographic predicament is continuing to take its toll on the nation's educational system.
Despite the 11,000 students who graduated from university this year, the Education Ministry believes that in 2009 the number will be as low as 9,000. Six years after that, the country's graduates will decrease to 6,000 - the number of state subsidized university admissions.
Indeed, demographics is poised to affect all schools. The dean of Tartu University, Jaak Aaviksoo, was recently quoted as saying that 10 's 15 colleges would be enough for the country.
Institutes are brainstorming ways to cope. In addition to prioritizing quality, universities are trying to broaden their studies in English to attract students from abroad. Still, with the fate of the bankrupt Concordia University hanging over the industry, that could prove to be a challenge.
Indeed, increasing the number of English classes and foreign advertising has helped Estonian high schools keep their numbers stable.
What's more, the Finnish newspaper Kaleva reported that the popularity of Estonian universities among Finnish entrants rose notably this year. Forty-one students applied to Audentes in 2005 - as many as the last 10 years together. Tartu University taught 205 Finnish students last year, most of whom studied medicine.
July 7 was the last day for students to submit their college applications. The majority 's 311 's applied for IT bachelor courses, followed by the humanities, according to the University of Tallinn admission department. Other studies in great demand are psychology, geology, journalism and English philology.
Tallinn University obtained 6,813 applications from 4,463 people, 3,400 of whom wish to pursue a bachelor of arts, 1,017 a master's degree and 46 applied for a doctorate. "Tartu University had accepted 6,395 applications by June 6 with 3,862 pursuing bachelor's degrees and 2,244 master's degrees," PR-specialist Liina Jurgen said, adding that the most popular faculties were psychology, journalism and public relations.
A recent poll published by the Aripaev-daily showed that Tallinn University expects to admit 2,000 new students for the 2005-2006 academic year. Tartu University, on the other hand, will accept all applicants whose grades and test scores exceed the required norms. The Estonian Business School, meanwhile, will admit 420 students, Audentes University 's 600, Nord 's 360 and Euroulikool nearly 200.
Still, many bright young minds understand a higher education does not guarantee alumni a secure job.
"The picture is auspicious," said Erko Vanatalu from the labor market board. "25, 867 persons were registered as unemployed in June 's that's 3.2 percent of inhabitants between age 16 and pension age."
He added that 15.8 percent of the country's unemployed have a master's, bachelor's or doctorate degree.
Although the number of university students is high, the need for qualified employees is also increasing, said labor market advisor Elo Parveots. Professionals in many fields prefer working abroad, while a good welder, for example, can easily find a well-paid job in Estonia.
The Estonian Employer's Confederation reported on July 5 that Toomas Luman from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and confederation president Enn Veskimagi sent a letter to Prime Minister Andrus Ansip to draw his attention to vocational education expenses in the state budget.
Employers believe that Estonia's ability to compete can only be based on educated people, the letter said, because it doesn't take current economic requirements into consideration. It also pointed out that, according to the state's development plan, financial support for vocational education must be increased by 411 million kroons.
The employers stressed that, according to population statistics, the number of able-bodied employees will decrease irreversibly as of 2006. Thus, the state must normalize the roll of education in order to provide necessary labor growth.
