For budgetary reasons, the Ministry of Education and Research plans to reduce the number of lifetime achievement awards in the fields of science and education from the current two and three respectively to just one award per field in the future.
“The reduction in the number of scholarships is related to the difficult situation of the state budget,” said Katrin Küsler, Minister for Science and Development Policy in the Ministry of Education.
The coalition agreement between Reform, SDE and Eesti 200 provides for a 10 percent cut in government spending over the next three years, which will affect all sectors.
An additional factor is that the amount of the award will increase, explained Katrin Mandra, chief advisor at the Ministry of Science and Development Policy, in response to an ERR query.
The ministry intends to increase the amount of the prize for scientific lifetime achievement to 65,000 euros, thus bringing it in line with other awards such as the Wiedemann Language Prize and the Federal Education Prize, both of which are already endowed with 65,000 euros.
Just below this is the award ceremony of the Ministry of Culture for lifetime achievement in the fields of culture and sport, which is endowed with 64,000 euros.
Currently, two prizes for scientific lifetime achievement are awarded each year, each worth 40,000 euros.
Mandra wrote: “We still want to honor educators and scientists who have made long-term and effective contributions, but given the extremely difficult state budget situation, reducing the number of awards helps save money.”
The ministry also plans to reduce the number of education awards. While three lifetime achievement awards are given in the education sector each year, in future there will only be one award for each of the individual areas, i.e. for science and education.
University of Tartu against cuts
The University of Tartu expressed satisfaction with the increase in the lifetime achievement award, but not with the reduction in the number of awards.
In a statement to the Ministry of Education, the university’s Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs, Aune Valk, pointed out that in the field of culture, for example, three lifetime achievement awards are given each year. She suggested that the committee responsible for the awards should be given the freedom to decide whether one or two lifetime achievement awards should be given.
Tallinn University declined to comment on the proposal.
If the proposal is adopted, the new procurement system will come into force next year.
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