The Riigikogu supported the establishment of the regulation for micro-qualifications

The Riigikogu passed the Act on Amendments to the Adult Education Act and Amendments to Other Associated Acts (465 SE),  initiated by the Government. It amends the Act by including the regulation for micro-qualifications which provides a definition of micro-qualifications, establishes the workload of studies, determines the entities to carry out the instruction, and establishes the requirements for micro-credentials.

The workload of micro-qualification studies will be 5–30 credits, and graduates will be awarded credentials which will be registered in the Estonian Education Information System. Higher education institutions may also designate a micro-qualification they offer as a micro-degree if at least half of the workload of the micro-degree curriculum is made up of degree-level subjects. Students will be able to apply for their micro-degree to be counted towards their formal studies when they continue their studies.

According to the Act, the requirements for micro-qualification studies will be implemented from 1 September.

Heljo Pikhof from the Social Democratic Party Group, Vadim Belobrovtsev from the Centre Party Group and Ando Kiviberg from Estonia 200 Parliamentary Group took the floor during the debate.

73 members of the Riigikogu supported the passing of the Act and there were two abstentions.

Two drafts were dropped from legislative proceedings

The Riigikogu rejected at the first reading the Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Making a proposal to the Government of the Republic to allocate funds for the co-financing of Tallinn Hospital” (498 OE), submitted by the Centre Party Group. It was intended to make a proposal to allocate funds for the co-financing of Tallinn Hospital. According to the presenters, Estonia needs a Tallinn Hospital with a modern layout solution that takes into account the needs of modern infection control, adds hospital beds, increases the capacity of the healthcare system in crisis situations, allows for better cooperation of medical personnel and improves the availability of medical care services to patients.

Tanel Kiik took the floor behalf of the Social Democratic Party Group in the debate. Irja Lutsar from Estonia 200 Parliamentary Group and Lauri Laats from the Centre Party Group also made speeches.

At the final vote, 13 members of the Riigikogu supported the draft Resolution, and one was against. A majority of the votes of the membership of the Riigikogu, that is, at least 51 votes, would have been needed for the Resolution to be passed.

The Riigikogu also rejected the Bill on Amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Health Insurance Act (504 SE), initiated by the Centre Party Group. It was intended to restore the earlier procedure for the payment of sickness benefits where sickness benefit had been paid from the second day of sick leave. According to the proposal, only the first day of sick leave would have been the employee’s own liability. The employer would have had to pay the benefit from the second to the fourth day and the Estonian Health Insurance Fund from the fifth day. In addition, the Bill was intended to increase the sickness benefit to 80 percent of the average remuneration of the employee.

Aleksandr Tšaplõgin from the Centre Party Group took the floor during the debate.

The Social Affairs Committee moved to reject the Bill at the first reading. 45 members of the Riigikogu supported the rejection and 10 were against it.

Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian)

Video recording will be available to watch later on the Riigikogu YouTube channel.

Riigikogu Press Service
Karin Kangro
+372 631 6356, +372 520 0323
karin.kangro@riigikogu.ee
Questions: press@riigikogu.ee

Link uudisele: The Riigikogu supported the establishment of the regulation for micro-qualifications

Source: Parliament of Estonia