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Factsheet for measure EE-2020-18/977 Updated – measures in Estonia

Support in the field of education and youth

Haridus- ja noortevaldkonna kriisitoetus

Country Estonia , applies nationwide
Time period Temporary, 01 May 2020 – 31 August 2022
Context COVID-19
Type Legislations or other statutory regulations
Category Supporting businesses to stay afloat
– Direct subsidies (full or partial) or damage compensation
Author Ingel Kadarik (Praxis Center for Policy Studies) and Eurofound
Measure added 13 July 2020 (updated 20 September 2022)

Background information

Due to the COVID-19 related containment measures, the private schools and childcare institutions lost at least parts of their income, while they still had ongoing costs. In addition, children and youth experienced rapid decrease in possibilities to engage in extracurricular developing activities (due to cancelled events or the loss or decrease of the income of the parents which reduce the possibilities to pay the participation fees). To mitigate the situation, the Ministry of Education and Research provides support to private child care institutions, schools and summer camps. The budget was allocated with the adoption of the supplementary state budget on 15 April 2020.

Content of measure

Two support schemes are available. A total of €15 million is allocated for those measures.

  1. Private schools, private child care institutions and kindergartens and private hobby schools could apply for a support to cover their unavoidable costs made during the COVID-19 crisis. The maximum support was €80 per month per child/student for up to 50% of the children/students per school and it could be applied for March, April and May 2020 (all months or some of the months). The application rounds were open until 15 May and 29 May (additional round due to high number of interested institutions).
  2. For the organisers of children and youth short summer camps (3-5 days long day camps or overnight camps) which aim to provide youth work, hobby activities and work/labour education. It is possible to apply for a support of €40 per child per day in case a camp with overnight stay and €20 per day per child in case a day camp. The applications were accepted between 25 June and 10 July 2020.

Updates

The following updates to this measure have been made after it came into effect.

08 December 2021

Cia the supplemental state budget in the end of 2021, additional funds were allocated for summer camps with a focus on learning motivation. The caps took place during Summer 2022. The terms and conditions ffor receiving the support remained unchanged compared to previous year.

06 May 2021

The terms and conditions for camps support measure (€6 million) were approved. The focus of the camps was set on learning motivation - in order to stimulate the learning motivation and mental health of students in primary or secondary education (students in grades 1-12 and vocational schools) and to support the development of interest in general competences and subject areas. At least 1/3 of the activities must be related to youth work activities.

The support is available for general education instituions, universities, local governments, hobby schools, youth organisations. The duration of a camp is three to five days. Camps can take place from late June to 31 December 2021.

A total of up to 16 children can participate in one group. A total of up to 50,000 students can participate in the camps.

The maximum grant per applicant is €120 multiplied by the participants in the camp.

27 April 2021

The terms and conditions of allocating the €6 million to private education and private hobby activities were approved. The maximum grant per applicant was €40 multiplied by the number of students in the education or hobby organisation at 1 March 2021. The support is foreseen for covering unavoidable fixed costs of the organisations. The actual fixed costs for the period of 1 March – 30 April were taken into account when calculating the actual total support, while the allocated support can be used until the end of 2021. The application round was open in May 2021.

18 March 2021

The Government approved the additional state budget of which €14.4 million will be allocated to education field. The exact terms and conditions will be established after the Parliament will have approved the draft law. The initial plans foresee that:

  • €6 million will be allocated to summer camps.
  • €6 million to private education and private hobby activities.
  • €0.5 million will be used to buy computers for students during distance learning period.
  • €0.9 million will be used to buy COVID-19 rapid tests for schools.
  • €1 million to ensure better internet connection for families in cooperation with local governments.
08 January 2021

The allocation of the additional budget mentioned in the previous update was specified in January 2021. The support was meant to cover the costs of the period 12 December 2020 - 17 January 2021. The amount of the support was:

  • for private education providers: €20 per student in Ida-Virumaa, €10 in Harjumaa and all other regions in Estonia.
  • for private hobby education and hobby activities providers: €50 per participant in Ida-Virumaa, €40 in Harjumaa and €20 in other regions.

The total budget was €4.26 million.

17 December 2020

On 17 December the Government decided to allocate €1.5 million and on 31 December additional €2.74 million to the field of education and youth. From the €2.74 million most (€2.3 million) will be allocated to Ida-Virumaa and Harjumaa as those regions are most affected by the second wave. Private schools and private hobby activities providers receive support in the amount of €10 per student. The support is higher in Ida-Virumaa and Harjumaa (€30 per student).

The applications will be accepted as of January. The companies and organisations can also apply for a support from the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund to cover wage cost for the period 28 December - 17 January. However, each organisation can apply for only one of those support measures.

Use of measure

In 2020: Altogether 725 institutions received the support in the total amount of €7 million in relation to support for private education and hobby activities. In relation to summer camps, 369 organisations applied for around 700 camps in the total sum of €2.7 million. This allowed around 24,000 children to participate in camps.

In 2021: 743 private education and hobby organisations received the support in the total amount of €4.3 million. For learning motivation camps, 504 organisations received altogether €7.3 million.

In 2022: 517 learning motivation camps were supported in a total sum of €7.5 million.

Target groups

Workers Businesses Citizens
Does not apply to workers Sector specific set of companies
Children (minors)
Youth (18-25)

Actors and funding

Actors Funding
National government
National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

Trade unions Employers' organisations
Role No involvement as case not in social partner domain No involvement as case not in social partner domain
Form Not applicable Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

  • No involvement
  • Main level of involvement: N/A

Involvement

No involvement.

Views and reactions

Not applicable.

Sectors and occupations

    • Economic area Sector (NACE level 2)
      P - Education P85 Education

This case is not occupation-specific.

Sources

  • 01 May 2020: Support for education field (Haridusvaldkonna toetus laagrid) (www.hm.ee)
  • 31 July 2020: Use of the measure (Kriisitoetus „Terve Eesti suvi“ jõuab lühilaagrite ja -malevate kaudu 24 000 nooreni) (www.hm.ee)
  • 18 December 2020: Additional finances 17 December (Valitsus eraldas haridus- ja noortevaldkonna toetuseks üle 1,5 miljoni euro) (www.hm.ee)
  • 31 December 2020: Additional support 31 December (Valitsus eraldas erahuvihariduse- ja tegevuse pakkujatele kriisitoetuseks 2,74 miljonit eurot) (www.hm.ee)
  • 08 January 2021: Additional support 8 January 2021 (Lisatoetus jaanuar 2021) (www.hm.ee)
  • 18 March 2021: Additional support 18 March 2021 (Lisatoetused märtsis 2021) (www.hm.ee)
  • 27 April 2021: Ministry decree: Crisis support terms and conditions in April 2021 (HTM määrus toetusmeetme kohta aprill 2021) (www.hm.ee)
  • 06 May 2021: Ministry decree: learning motivation camps (Õpihuvi laagrite määrus) (www.riigiteataja.ee)

Citation

Eurofound (2020), Support in the field of education and youth, measure EE-2020-18/977 (measures in Estonia), EU PolicyWatch, Dublin, https://static.eurofound.europa.eu/covid19db/cases/EE-2020-18_977.html

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