Veterinary Education Prepares for Transition to English Instruction
Vets will no longer be able to train for their profession in the Estonian language, ending a decades-long tradition.
The University of Life Sciences veterinary school has trained several generations of veterinarians under an Estonian-language curriculum, but the future is geared to an increasingly global scenario as state funding appears to be drying up.
Rector Mait Klaassen says the change is unavoidable, as it is the only way the university can also admit paid students.
In autumn 2013, all students at the school will take the subjects in English, ERR radio reported.
Klaassen said a portion of practicum training will perforce use Estonian in day-to-day instruction.
"That means it will be possible to study to be a veterinarian in Estonian. But we are clearly moving to a future where lectures will be in English and there will be increasingly more teachers from elsewhere," he said.
Tuition for new veterinary students will be raised from 6,200 euros to 7,500 euros as of January. Currently the state pays tuition for 25 students per year in the field, and the university admits another 25 paying students.
The government has pledged to keep funding in place for next year. But a professor at the university's animal clinic's veterinary medicine and animal husbandry institute, Toomas Orro, said the state is underfunding clinical veterinary medicine and it is not clear whether the school will retain its accreditation past 2019. That will be crucial if the school is to draw more international students - not just Finns, but Germans and Swedes as well.
Director of the institute Andres Aland estimates the government needs to provide an additional 450,000 euros per year - an amount that was originally supposed to be in the state budget but is not in the final draft sent to Parliament.