Minister of Education and Research (Estonia)

Last updated

The Minister of Education and Research is the senior minister at the Ministry of Education and Research ( Estonian: Eesti Vabariigi Haridus- ja Teadusministeerium) in the Estonian Government. The Minister is responsible for administration and development of Estonian educational system as well as for administration and funding of research and development activities on national level. [1]

Contents

The Minister of Education and Research is chosen by the Prime Minister as a part of the government. The current Minister of Education and Research is Tõnis Lukas, who took the position on 18 July 2022.[ citation needed ]

The Minister is assisted in his/her work by the Deputy Minister, Secretary General, Secretary for General and Vocational Education, Secretary for Higher Education and Research, and Secretary for Youth Affairs and Foreign Relations.

History

Post of the Minister of Education was created at the birth of independent Republic of Estonia on 24 February 1918. From 1928 to 1936 the official title was the Minister of Education and Social Affairs. The end of the Republic of Estonia on 21 June 1940 marked also the end of independent governance of education in Estonia. The Ministry of Education continued from 1940 to 1991 under orders received from Moscow and was merged with the Educational Committee in 1988.

The Ministry of Education was re-established in 1989 to replace the Educational Committee of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic. With the restoration of independent Republic of Estonia on 20 August 1991 the Ministry regained its supreme authority on educational issues. In 1993 the ministries of culture and education were merged to form Ministry of Culture and Education. 1996 the old order was restored and a separate Ministry of Education re-established. 2001 the Ministry was relocated to Tartu due to several economic and regional political arguments, but also due to successful lobby by University of Tartu.

On 1 January 2003 the Ministry of Education was renamed to Ministry of Education and Research in order to reflect better its focus and areas of administration. The title of the Minister has changed according to the changes in the name of the Ministry.

Titles

List of ministers

1918 to 1940

NameTook officeLeft officeParty
1 Peeter Põld 24 February 191828 November 1918 Estonian People's Party
2 Karl Luts 28 November 191812 March 1919
3 Harald Laksberg 12 March 19199 May 1919
4 Johannes Kartau 9 May 191919 November 1919
5 Konstantin Treffner 19 November 19192 August 1920
6 Friedrich Sauer 2 August 192027 October 1920
7 Jüri Annusson 27 October 192027 January 1921
8 Heinrich Bauer 27 January 192122 November 1922
9 Aleksander Veiderman 22 November 192220 February 1924
10 Rudolf Georg Gabrel (acting)20 February 192427 March 1924
11 Hugo Bernhard Rahamägi 27 March 192417 December 1925
12 Jaan Lattik 17 December 192510 December 1927
13 Alfred Julius Mõttus 10 December 19275 December 1928
14 Leopold Johannes Johanson 5 December 192810 June 1929
15 Jaan Hünerson 10 June 192912 February 1931
16 Jaan Piiskar 12 February 193120 February 1932
17 Jaan Hünerson (2nd time)20 February 19323 October 1932
18 Hugo Kukke 3 October 193218 May 1933
19 Konstantin Konik 18 May 193321 October 1933
20 Nikolai Kann 21 October 193311 May 1936
21 Aleksander Jaakson 11 May 193612 October 1939
22 Paul Kogerman 12 October 193921 June 1940

1989 to present

NameTook officeLeft officeParty
23 Rein Loik 28 December 198921 October 1992(none)
24 Paul-Eerik Rummo 22 October 199221 June 1994(none)
25 Peeter Olesk 21 June 199417 April 1995 Estonian National Independence Party
26 Peeter Kreitzberg 17 April 19956 November 1995 Estonian Centre Party
27 Jaak Aaviksoo 6 November 199530 November 1996 Estonian Reform Party
28 Rein Loik (2nd time)30 November 199617 March 1997(none)
29 Mait Klaassen 17 March 199725 March 1999 Estonian Coalition Party
30 Tõnis Lukas 25 March 199928 January 2002 Pro Patria Union
31 Mailis Rand 28 January 200210 April 2003 Estonian Centre Party
32 Toivo Maimets 10 April 200313 April 2005 Union for the Republic - Res Publica
33 Mailis Reps (= Mailis Rand, 2nd time)13 April 20055 April 2007 Estonian Centre Party
34 Tõnis Lukas (2nd time)5 April 20075 April 2011 Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica
35 Jaak Aaviksoo (2nd time)6 April 201126 March 2014 Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica
35 Jevgeni Ossinovski 26 March 20149 April 2015 Social Democratic Party
35 Jürgen Ligi 9 April 201512 September 2016 Estonian Reform Party
36 Maris Lauri 12 September 201623 November 2016 Estonian Reform Party
37 Mailis Reps (= Mailis Rand, 3rd time)23 November 201621 November 2020 Estonian Centre Party
38 Jaak Aab 25 November 202026 January 2021 Estonian Centre Party
39 Liina Kersna 26 January 202118 July 2022 Estonian Reform Party
40 Tõnis Lukas (3rd time)18 July 2022Incumbent Pro Patria

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tartu</span> Second most populous city in Estonia

Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,435. It is 186 kilometres southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the two largest lakes in Estonia, Lake Võrtsjärv and Lake Peipus. From the 13th century until the end of the 19th century, Tartu was known in most of the world by variants of its historical name Dorpat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Estonia</span> Occurrences and people in Estonia throughout history

The history of Estonia forms a part of the history of Europe. Humans settled in the region of Estonia near the end of the last glacial era, beginning from around 8500 BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siim Kallas</span> Estonian politician (born 1948)

Siim Kallas is an Estonian politician, former Prime Minister of Estonia, and former European Commissioner. He served as the European Commissioner for Transport between 2010 and 2014. Before that he was the European Commissioner for Administrative Affairs, Audit and Anti-Fraud between 2004 and 2009. In both Barroso Commissions he was also a Vice-President. He was twice appointed the Acting Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs and the Euro in Olli Rehn's stead, from 19 April 2014 to 25 May 2014 while he was on electoral campaign leave for the 2014 elections to the European Parliament and from 1 July 2014 to 16 July 2014 after he took up his seat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Konstantin Päts</span> Estonian statesman and president (1874–1956)

Konstantin Päts was an Estonian statesman and the country's president in 1938–1940. Päts was one of the most influential politicians of the independent democratic Republic of Estonia, and during the two decades prior to World War II he also served five times as the country's prime minister. After the 16–17 June 1940 Soviet invasion and occupation of Estonia, President Päts remained formally in office for over a month, until he was forced to resign, imprisoned by the new Stalinist regime, and deported to the USSR, where he died in 1956.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ministries of Poland</span>

The ministries of Poland are the various departments performing functions implemented by the Polish government. Each ministry is headed by a governmental minister selected by the Prime Minister, who sits in the collective executive Council of Ministers. The current competences and regulations of the ministries were established under a series of central administrative reforms carried out by prime ministers Józef Oleksy and Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz between 1996 and 1997. Under legal regulations, the cabinet can create, combine, or dissolve ministries, with the Prime Minister determining the scope and responsibilities of ministers. The number and range of ministries has varied throughout the past.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tõnis Lukas</span> Estonian politician

Tõnis Lukas is an Estonian politician, former Minister of Culture from 2019 to 2021 and Minister of Education and Research from 1999 to 2002 and from 2007 to 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mailis Reps</span> Estonian politician

Mailis Reps is an Estonian politician, a member of the Estonian Centre Party. She served as the Minister of Education and Research from 2002 to 2003, 2005 to 2007 and 2016 to 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">August Rei</span> Estonian politician

August Rei VR III/1 was an Estonian politician, the Head of State (Riigivanem) of Estonia in 1928–1929, and the Prime Minister in duties of the President of Estonia in the government in exile in 1945–1963.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jaak Aaviksoo</span> Estonian politician and physicist

Jaak Aaviksoo is an Estonian politician and physicist, a former rector of the University of Tartu and Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech).

An education minister is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and delivers services relating to sports are listed; overseen by and responsible to the education minister. The first such ministry ever is considered to be the Commission of National Education founded in 1773 in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marko Pomerants</span> Estonian politician

Marko Pomerants is an Estonian politician. He was the Minister of the Environment in 2015–2017. Previously, Pomerants has served as the Minister of Social Affairs from 2003 to 2005 and as the Minister of the Interior from 2009 to 2012. Pomerants is a member of the Pro Patria and Res Publica Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jaak Aab</span> Estonian politician

Jaak Aab is an Estonian politician of the Centre Party who has served as Minister of Education and Research and three times as the Minister of Public Administration from 2017 to 2018, from 2019 to 2020 and from 2011 to 2022 and as the Minister of Social Affairs (Estonia) from 2005 to 2007.

The history of formal education in Estonia dates back to the 13–14th centuries when the first monastic and cathedral schools were founded. The first primer in the Estonian language was published in 1575. The oldest university is the University of Tartu which was established by the Swedish king Gustav II Adolf in 1632. In 1919, university courses were first taught in the Estonian language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Estonia–India relations</span> Bilateral relations of Estonia and India

Estonia–India relations refers to the bilateral diplomatic relations between Estonia and India. India first recognised Estonia on 22 September 1921 when the former had just acquired membership in the League of Nations. India re-recognised Estonia on 9 September 1991 and diplomatic relations were established on 2 December of the same year in Helsinki. Estonia is represented in India by its embassy in New Delhi and its honorary consulate in Mumbai. India is represented in Estonia through its embassy in Helsinki (Finland) and through an honorary consulate in Tallinn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic</span> Republic of the Soviet Union (1940–1991)

The Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as the Estonian SSR, Soviet Estonia, or simply Estonia, was a union republic and an ethnically based administrative subdivision of the former Soviet Union (USSR) covering the occupied and annexed territory of Estonia in 1940–1941 and 1944–1991. The Estonian SSR was nominally established to replace the until then independent Republic of Estonia on 21 July 1940, a month after the 16–17 June 1940 Soviet military invasion and occupation of the country during World War II. After the installation of a Stalinist government which, backed by the occupying Soviet Red Army, declared Estonia a Soviet constituency, the Estonian SSR was subsequently incorporated into the Soviet Union as a "union republic" on 6 August 1940. Estonia was occupied by Nazi Germany in 1941, and administered as a part of Reichskommissariat Ostland until it was reconquered by the USSR in 1944.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mart Nutt</span> Estonian politician and historian (1962–2019)

Mart Nutt was an Estonian politician and historian, member of the XIV Riigikogu since he was elected in the 2019 Estonian parliamentary election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tartu Art Museum</span> Museum in Tartu, Estonia

Tartu Art Museum is a state-owned museum of art located in Tartu, Estonia. It was founded in 1940 on a private initiative by the members of local art school Pallas. This is the largest art museum in Southern Estonia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anu Realo</span> Estonian psychologist

Anu Realo is an Estonian personality and cross-cultural psychologist. She is professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Warwick, the United Kingdom, and a visiting professor at the University of Tartu, Estonia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ministry of Education and Research (Estonia)</span>

The Ministry of Education and Research is a government ministry of Estonia, responsible for the planning and carrying out education, research, youth, and language policies, developing the national curricula and other educational standards and performing state supervision over the compliance of national curricula and other educational standards and educational institutions. Its head office is in Tartu and it also maintains offices in the capital, Tallinn. The current Minister of Education and Research is Kristina Kallas.

Nikolai Köstner (1889–1959) was an Estonian politician, economist, diplomat and academic. He was a member of the Provisional Assembly of the Autonomous Estonian Governorate (1917–19) and the Constituent Assembly of the newly established Republic of Estonia (1919–20); he also served as a minister in Jaan Raamot's Provincial Government in 1917, in the Second and Third Provisional Governments (1918–19), and in Otto Strandman's first Cabinet and Jaan Tõnisson's first Cabinet. He was also part of the Estonian delegation to the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. In later life, he worked as an academic at the University of Tartu and as an adviser to a number of national banks.

References

  1. "Ministeeriumi ajalugu". Haridus- ja Teadusministeerium (in Estonian). 22 March 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2022.