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ESTONIA |
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ESTONIA |
CONCLUSIONS
Four Estonian universities offer degree programmes in PA: the University of Tartu, Tallinn Technical University, the Tallinn University of Educational Sciences and the Estonian Business School. These programmes were established between 1994 and 1998, and the first group of students graduated in 1996. Consequently, all programmes are still new and their development has been very rapid. However, it is still early to make broader generalisations on their success in educating civil servants and conducting PA research.
All PA programmes utilise an interdisciplinary approach to PA by involving the disciplines of political science, economics and law, and emphasise a broad liberal arts education. However, no discipline dominates, although a slight economics bias can be noted in two universities. All programmes aim to develop PA education in a balanced manner by offering different minor fields of study and elective courses in addition to their core PA curricula.
The European and comparative dimension forms an important part of all PA curricula. The role of EU courses has substantially increased in recent years, and two universities are currently in the process of institutionalising their EU content in order to offer them as a minor field of study for PA (and other) students. The European and comparative dimension is also a part of research projects undertaken by PA scholars of the universities.
PA programmes in Estonia are perceived to be successful despite their short existence. Their success is illustrated by high application figures compared to other fields of study and one hundred percent employment of their graduates. It is obvious that, although some stabilisation has been achieved, all programmes are still in the process of development and continuous improvement.
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