In a recent appearance on ETV morning show "Terevisioon," Somelar noted that schools in Estonia are chronically understaffed. While this shortage is less conspicuous among school psychologists than among teachers, many of the former posts remain vacant due to a lack of qualified individuals.

"In Estonia, a school is thrilled if someone is willing to come work as a teacher or psychologist at all," he admitted.

"Of course the principal and the other party to the contract are obligated to implement what they've agreed on in the best possible way to empower students," Somelar said. "In reality, what we're seeing is that when positions are vacant due to market competition, we [end up with] people who are unqualified."

Jürgen Rakaselg, head of inclusive education at the Ministry of Education and Research, acknowledged that while the siuation has improved over the past decade, the situation clearly still isn't satisfactory.

"This is a serious problem," Rakaselg underscored. "53 percent of around 500 general education schools have a school psychologist on staff, and some have two or more. We've seen that the presence of psychologists in schools has continued to steadily improve."

In a case that made the news in Estonia recently, the psychologist on staff at Tallinn School No. 21 was criticized for using pseudoscience to address students' mental health needs, among other things.

Given the broader context, Somelar said that it's difficult to criticize the school's principal over this.

"When the state wants certain support services but cannot ensure the availability of enough people to fill these positions, I can't seriously blame the school principal," he admitted. "It makes no difference whether you have a woo-woo psychologist, a Russian narrative-promoting history teacher or a physics teacher with inadequate expertise."

Rakaselg noted that while interest in majoring in psychology at university remains very high, graduates often don't end up going on to work within the field.

"It's relatively difficult for us here at the ministry to influence this," he said. "Since demand is high, people also demand high salaries, and that's challenging for school administrators."

Somelar, however, believes that the Ministry of Education and Research should as one partner ensure that this issue is addressed in state budget negotiations.

Commenting on the recent Tallinn School No. 21 psychologist case, Rakaselg stressed that responsibility for that lies with the school principal.

"The immediate superior is clearly responsible here – the employer that interacts with them," the ministry official explained. "They are liable under employment law to oversee the fulfillment of their job duties."

Citing Tallinn Secondary School of Science as an example, Somelar explained that it's possible to avoid situations like that in the first place. This requires, among other things, regular support team meetings.

"We regularly receive a lot of feedback from mutual communication," the education director described. "We haven't had it happen that [people respond to] our school psychologist, but our internal evaluations include a system of internal observations, where we ask students and parents for feedback on their support services."

He said that respondents can submit comments in an open response. "We check to make sure whether the service is continuing to help and meet expectations," he added.

Ultimately, anyone wanting to work as a psychologist must be honest with themselves, Somelar said.

"I always encourage engaging in self-reflection and encourage applying for professional qualification via the Estonian Association of School Psychologists (EKPÜ), so you can prove your qualifications," he urged. "You'll also get feedback there, and develop through that. Otherwise it's very tough, because no one else is going to be involved in counseling that student – maybe a parent sometimes. This is based very much on trust and quality, which is what you should be striving for."

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