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ESTONIA |
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ESTONIA |
INSTITUTIONAL SETTING
PA programmes in Estonian universities can be easily identified and separated from other disciplines. Although their titles in Estonian vary (avalik haldus, haldusjuhtimine, halduskorraldus), they are all called “Public Administration” in English.
In former communist countries, re-establishing public trust and cultivating public participation presents a formidable challenge. Training and developing an educated citizenry requires trained individuals at all levels of society. The goal of building awareness is related to disseminating information about the public sector by (either directly or indirectly) educating different groups. In universities, therefore, participation in PA courses has to be open to all students no matter what their major field of study. In most cases, students have a choice of many classes across faculties and departments. As PA classes have proven to be popular, they accommodate many students from other programmes who either study PA as a minor or visit individual classes. In this manner, PA is taught in combination with a wide range of other disciplines.
Programmes at the University of Tartu and the Tallinn University of Educational Sciences also offer a minor option, so that students of other disciplines may also study PA (currently there are fifty-five students minoring in PA in Tartu and twenty-five students at the Tallinn University of Educational Sciences). Tallinn Technical University and the Estonian Business School do not provide PA as a minor field of study.
The student body consists of students in government allotted spaces (i.e. those who do not pay for their studies) and of those who pay for their studies. In recent years, the number of paying students has increased in all universities. The Estonian Business School only admits paying students. Tuition fees differ only slightly from institution to institution. The following table illustrates the various PA programmes in Estonian universities.
Table 1: Number of PA (‘Major’) Students in Estonian Universities
Degree
Institution
BA
(4 years)
MA/MPA
(2 years)
PhD
(4 years)
Total
University of Tartu
132*
25*
7*
164
Tallinn Technical University
133**
61**
9**
203
Tallinn University of Educational Sciences
224*
28***
-
252
Estonian Business School
90***
-
-
90
Total
579
114
16
709
* - fully accredited programmes (for seven years)
** - conditionally accredited programmes (for two years)
*** - programmes that have not sought accreditation to dateThe evaluation of PA programmes for accreditation took place in May 1999 and was carried out by an international accreditation board invited by the Ministry of Education. Some programmes were not accredited as they were too new, and it was not possible to carry out a comprehensive evaluation.
Students are allowed to take classes from other universities besides their home university. The most popular cooperation takes place between Tallinn Technical University and the Tallinn University of Educational Sciences, as they offer an integrated PA programme. In addition, students can take one-fourth of their classes in other (Estonian or foreign) accredited universities and have their credits and grades fully transferred.
Estonian universities primarily provide traditional full-time programmes. In addition, all four universities have an Open University, where practising civil servants and other people interested in PA can study either individual PA courses or pass the whole programme. However, this is not very popular yet as the Open University accommodates only a few PA students. Brief descriptions of institutions providing PA education can be found below:
1. University of Tartu
The University of Tartu is a public institution, which follows the Estonian Constitution, the Law of University of Tartu, the Law of Universities and its statute. The University of Tartu employs including one thousand eighty-two academic staff and one hundred and twenty full professors. There are altogether nearly ten thousand students, including over nine hundred master’s and five hundred and seventy PhD students. The administration of the university is decentralised to a high degree, with many functions (recruitment, financial management, matters of research and teaching, awarding grades and degrees) delegated to the faculty and departments.
There are more than one thousand students in the Faculty of Social Sciences. The faculty is one of ten in the University of Tartu, and it includes seven departments and twelve chairs. The PA programme offered in the Department of Public Administration and Social Policy, by the Chair of PA and the Chair of Social Policy.
2. Tallinn Technical University
Tallinn Technical University is a public legal body, which follows the Estonian Constitution, the Law of Universities and its statute. The nine faculties of the university contain one hundred and seventeen chairs, the Chair of Public Administration being one of them. Tallinn Technical University has more than eight thousand five hundred students, including six hundred and sixty master’s and one hundred and ninety PhD students. Tallinn Technical University employs an academic staff of seven hundred and eighty, including one hundred and two professors.
The PA programme is taught in the Faculty of Humanities, which contains the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences. The department consists of four chairs, of which one is called the Chair of PA.
3. Tallinn University of Educational Sciences
The Tallinn University of Educational Sciences is a public legal body, which follows the Estonian Constitution, the Law of Universities and its statute. The university consists of six faculties, twenty departments and two centres. The PA programme is taught in the Faculty of Social Sciences, the Department of Government and the Chair of State Sciences. There are altogether sixty-two hundred BA/diploma students, four hundred and eighty master’s students and fifty-three PhD students enrolled.
4. Estonian Business School
The Estonian Business School is a private legal body, which has a staff of ninety people, including academics and support staff. There are one thousand seven hundred students enrolled. The Estonian Business School is divided into institutes and chairs. The public administration programme is assigned to the Chair of Law and Public Administration.
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