At a demonstration organised by the Estonian Rescue Workers' Union in front of the Riigikogu in Tallinn at 11am today, representatives of the education sector - representatives of the unions of Estonia's major universities, students from the Estonian Students' Union and teachers from the Estonian Union of Teachers - will come to show solidarity with the rescuers.

According to Tauri Tampuu, spokesperson for the Academic Trade Unions, the 12% pay rise promised by the government will not satisfy rescuers because it will leave them in a pay poverty for the future and the harsh reality today is that a rescuer who risks their life to help others will receive just over €900 on payday.

"Academic staff, students and teachers stand in solidarity with the rescuers, as we are facing many of the same problems as the rescuers," said Tampuu, explaining that the Estonian education sector is also chronically underfunded, resulting in a severe shortage of new talent, overburdened staff, low salaries and unstable research funding.

"What should motivate a young person to become a rescuer or a teacher - is a sense of mission enough, or do these jobs also need to be valued by society?" asked Tampuu.

Speaking on behalf of the authors of the Estonian Education Pact, Birgit Poopuu, Research Fellow at the Institute of Social Sciences, Tallinn University. The text of the Education Pact can be found here: https://eyl.ee/eesti-hariduslepe/.