University of Tartu Boosts Number of Tuition-Free IT Spots
The University of Tartu has increased the number of tuition-free spots it will be offering information technology students this year by one-third to around 150, with the additional cost to be covered under a joint private-public program.
According to professor Jaak Vilo, head of the university's Institute of Computer Science, the additional spots were made possible by funding from the IT Academy, an initiative supported by IT companies, universities and the state.
Under the same program, the 20 percent of students who show the best performance this year will receive a stipend of 240 euros per month and the university will recruit additional young lecturers to help students with their practical assignments, said Vilo.
In addition, all students in the department will receive laptops, which they can use for carrying out practical assignments, watching lecture videos and doing homework. "This will naturally help improve the results, because much more attention will be channeled to practical learning," said Vilo.
The support is bound to be welcome news to the business community and members of the government, who have long complained about the lack of technical specialists produced by the nation's educational system.
An analysis by the Development Fund published in April concluded that Estonia needs two to three times more IT specialists in order to ensure adequate development of the sector.
Ingrid Teesalu