National Audit Office refutes Liisa Pakosta’s claim

Toomas Mattson | 9/11/2015 | 12:08 PM

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TALLINN, 11 September 2015 – The National Audit Office refutes the claim made by former member of the Riigikogu, member of the Estonian Association of Parents and the next Gender Equality and Equal Treatment Commissioner Liisa Pakosta in the interview she gave on the breakfast show of Vikerraadio. She alleged that in the audit published yesterday, the National Audit Office advises to solve the problem of certain schools requesting money from parents and the issue of school funding by having everyone study half as much as they do at present and allowing parents to pay for participation in hobby clubs.

On the show, Pakosta said: “The suggestion made in the report of the National Audit Office that everyone should study half as much as they do at present, and if someone wants to study more, their parents should pay for hobby clubs – that’s as far from equality or equal opportunities in education as can be imagined.”
The positions and solutions suggested by the National Audit Office are actually direct opposites of the ones that Pakosta tried to attribute to the National Audit Office in her interview.
Point 77 of the audit of the National Audit Office ‘Financing general education schools with parents’ money’, which was published yesterday, says the following: “The collection of money has been a problematic issue for a long time, but the state or local authorities have failed to take decisive action so far. [---] Harmonisation of curricula and teaching in schools of the public school network by eliminating the specific characteristics of certain schools that require more money cannot be a solution either. If this was done, the society would again lose rather than win. This means that additional prohibitions or restrictions would not help here. Solutions must be found in the context of effective rules, which is also possible in the opinion of the National Audit Office.”
And point 78 sys the following: “[---] The key lies primarily in the activities of local authorities as the managers of schools. [---] Ideally, a local authority should be open to schools and the families of students, and a constructive partner that knows what families expect from education and takes these expectations into account when developing the school network and funding schools.”
Toomas Mattson, Head of Communication Service at the National Audit Office, said that the reports of the National Audit Office are public and the people who write them are always happy to explain the opinions expressed in audits. “It’s always a good idea to read the report and try to understanding it before commenting on the opinions of the National Audit Office. However, sometimes one has to understand that similar to performance at school, people’s ability and desire to understand written text is different,” said Mattson.

Toomas Mattson
Head of Communication Service, National Audit Office
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  • Posted: 9/11/2015 12:08 PM
  • Last Update: 9/14/2015 3:57 PM
  • Last Review: 9/14/2015 3:57 PM

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