Piret Viirpalu: Estonia has a narrow window to value vocational higher education

Piret Viirpalu, chair of the Council of Rectors of Applied Universities, writes that valuing vocational higher education is one of Estonia's most important questions for the coming decade. The Council has sent proposals to political parties for shaping higher education policy. People with practical skills ensure security, healthcare, transport and cultural continuity.

The Council of Rectors of Applied Universities (CRAU) has sent concrete proposals to Estonian political parties for shaping higher education policy, placing focus on how the state values practical higher education in the coming decade.

The chair of CRAU and rector of Pallas University of Applied Sciences, Piret Viirpalu, emphasises that applied universities train people who maintain Estonia's security, healthcare, aviation and transport links, industry, and carry forward cultural continuity. Yet according to Viirpalu, the societal value of vocational higher education is not sufficiently recognised.

Applied universities operating in Estonia offer education closely linked to specific professions and labour market needs. These schools impart practical skills required in medicine, aviation, the cultural sector and manufacturing — sectors without which society cannot function.

According to Viirpalu, this is a narrow window and an urgent matter: if vocational higher education is not valued sufficiently at the political level in the coming years, the shortage of specialists with practical skills will deepen further. CRAU calls on political parties to take a clear position on how to position and fund vocational higher education in Estonia's educational landscape.

The appeal from CRAU to political parties signals that applied universities wish to participate more actively in shaping education policy, and their voice should reach both the Riigikogu chamber and the government table.