Chapter 8
RURAL SOCIAL POLICY

I. Basic Characteristics of the Rural Social Situation

A. Demographic Trends and Employment

Estonian demographic trends have been unusual in recent years. The first striking fact is that the total population declined by 6% from 1989 to 1996 (appendix Table 8-A1). This trend is due mainly to international migration out of the country, but also it is true that the birth rate is very low so the net natural increment is negative.

The number of births in 1995 was only 54% of the number in the peak year, 1987. In 1995 there were 9.14 births and 14.07 deaths per 1000 population. The birth rate was highest in Hiiumaa (13.16) and lowest in East Virumaa (7.62), a relationship which is understandable in light of the political and social changes the country has been undergoing. The death rate was highest in Põlvamaa and lowest in Hiiumaa and Harjumaa.

The second striking fact is that the decline in population occurred almost entirely in urban areas (appendix Tables 8-A1 and 8-A2). The rural population was virtually constant, in spite of a sharp increase in unemployment in rural areas, and so its share of the total population increased. Since most of the employment growth in recent years has occurred in urban service sectors, this trend is surprising.

For eight recent years, the rural population at the beginning of the year was as follows (in thousands):

From 1989 to 1995 the towns' population decreased by 89,100 while the rural population decreased only by 200.

Rural employment has followed varying trends over the longer run. It decreased sharply in the 1960s, decreased slightly in the 1970s, increased slightly in the 1980s, and decreased again in the 1990s. (See appendix Tables 8-A3 and 8-A4.) From Table 8-1 below, it can be seen that all the decline in rural employment over the decades has been accounted for by agriculture and forestry. In fact, rural employment in other branches of activity has increased.

Table 8-1
Classification of Those Employed by Place of Residence and Economic Sector in 1989
(in brackets: changes from 1959 to 1989)

Sources: Estonian Population by the Census of Population, 1 part (1995), Tallinn, Statistical Office of Estonia.
Estonian Population by the Census of population. II part (1996), Tallinn, Statistical Office of Estonia

From 1975 through 1987, agriculture held a privileged position in regard to salaries (Table 8-2), especially in the collective farms. This situation changed abruptly after 1990, as shown by the comparisons in Table 8-3. At present, that salary gap which is unfavourable to farmers is partly explained by the relatively lower educational attainments of the rural labour force (Table 8-A5).

Table 8-2
Average Monthly Salaries in Agriculture, 1960 -1987
(average of workers in all sectors and civil servants = 100)

Source: Estonian SSR National Economy in 19601987. Statistics Yearbooks, Tallinn, “Eesti Raamat.”

Table 8-3
Agricultural Employees Average Gross Monthly Salary, 1992 – 1995
(national average, all sectors = 100)

The demographic composition of the rural population varies considerably from county to country. For example, the number of persons below working age ranges from 209 per 1000 in Ida-Viru to 275 in Hiiumaa. Similarly, the number of persons old than working age varies from 182 per 1000 in Hiiumaa to 262 in Põlvamaa (Table 8-A6). A striking fact is that in rural areas there are 122 women for each 100 men (Table 8-A7). There also is a demographic imbalance in this respect nationally, with 115 women for each 100 men. Men outnumber women in all age brackets through age 29, and women are more numerous than men in all brackets from age 30 onward.

Registered farming households constitute 5.4% of the non-institutional households (also Table 8-A6) but farmers represent 6.5 % of the employed population (Table 8-A7). Informal farming represents an additional share of the total population and the employed population. More than a quarter (27.3%) of the rural population works outside its own community, and 7.7% work in nonfarming occupations in the home. In Vōrumaa, where handicrafts are especially important, as many as 23.8% of the employed persons work in non-farming jobs in the home (Table 8-A7). Persons of pension age still are obliged to work in many cases, on average 13.5% of them have jobs. This is almost twice the share of farmers in the working population. Pensioners represent 7.4% of the total rural workers (Table 8-A8).

It can be observed that a major part of assistance provided by regional policies is targeted on groups that in reality are small minorities of the rural population (for example farmers, 6–7%; entrepreneurs and others who are initiators, 3–4%; the officially unemployed, etc.). The data presented in this Chapter, including in the appendix, should help to better define the main groups in rural areas, so that assistance can be provided to them in the areas that it is needed.

B. Unemployment

Officially there was no unemployment during the socialist period, so people without work were not supported by the Government. On the contrary, they were treated as vagrants and were subject to administrative punishments or were even criminally prosecuted. In the countryside collective and State farms took the responsibility of providing employment, trying to see that everybody had an opportunity to earn income. The Government only dealt with placing in work situations the graduates of higher schools, technical schools and vocational schools, and providing jobs for persons coming out of prisons or orphanages.

According to present official statistics, unemployment remains quite low. However, it is recognised that the official definition excludes many persons who are unemployed. In order to be included in the register of unemployed persons, a job seeker has to have been employed for a sixmonth period during the preceding twelve months. Thus, the long-term unemployed are excluded from this definition.

The official data of the Labour Office placed the unemployment rate at about 4% during 1995. Macroeconomic data from the Bank of Estonia put it at about 5% during the same year (Table 8-A9). Results from the survey “Estonian Labour Research” placed it even higher, at almost 9%, for that year. Nevertheless, even this last estimate does not include those who have become discouraged from looking for work, nor does it reflect the underemployment which results from part-time work when the job seeker wishes to have full-time work.

In the words of the UNDP's Human Development Report for Estonia, 1996(pp. 26 – 27),

"people who had been looking for employment for over one year constituted close to a third of the total number of those seeking work…

"about 70% of the working-age group belongs to the population outside the work force and they are not counted in determining the unemployment rates…

"46 % - 50% of those looking for work were registered with the national employment agency… Thus, hidden unemployment constituted a relatively large percentage of total unemployment… during the third quarter of 1995, 59% of the unemployed had never received any unemployment benefits…

“Close to one-third of people working on a part-time basis did not choose to be in that position.”

Estonian official statistics show that the share of the labour force that has jobs is actually a little lower than the UNDP indicates, at 65.7% (appendix Table 8-A10). The statistics also show that more research is needed on the labour market, as the status of 14% of the working-age population is undetermined (also Table 8-A10). It is evident that unemployment should be a matter of concern for policymakers, especially in some of the more rural areas where measured rates of unemployment are as high as 10% to 15%. Table 8-4 shows the unemployment rate as calculated from the “Estonian Labour Research Survey,” and Table 8-5 shows the data from the same source tabulated by counties.

Table 8-4
Unemployment according to “Estonian Labour-Research” Survey (1995, quarter I)
(numbers of employed and unemployed persons in the sample)

Table 8-5
Rate of Unemployment by County (%)
(job seekers/labour force)

The choice of working places as well as the average income is smaller in rural regions. The rate of unemployment has increased, markedly in some areas. The number of people who are willing to live on agriculture (workers of the previous collective and State farms, landowners, their legal successors, people who have had no connections with agriculture before but who now wish to live in the countryside and work in agriculture) is larger than the amount that can be absorbed by agriculture, considering the present technology and product prices.

Unemployed persons are paid subsistence doles in the Republic of Estonia, but the sum is pretty small (6–7 times smaller than the average salary), and it is not related to the employee's previous salary. Also, it lasts for quite a short period, not more than six months.

The unemployment compensation is so small that some people just do not register themselves as unemployed in time to qualify for this benefit. The expenses (time and cost of travel to the county centre, etc.) are almost as large. (Constant registration in a county centre is required.) Therefore they also lose other certain rights (subsistence insurance, health insurance, training). On the other hand, some workers are not employed officially and their family members can thus get lodging and subsistence subsidies, but they are not insured against work accidents or illnesses.

Many employees of the former agricultural enterprises have lost the opportunity to receive unemployment compensation - often the relevant applications are not written. Nor are doles provided for those who have so far earned their living on the household plots that are a legacy of the era of collective farms (see Chapter 3).

Another problem is that the salaries paid for rural employment are so low that many people do not accept the official employment offers and try to find other ways of subsisting instead. The proportion of private farms and small businesses where the owners employ themselves has greatly increased.

C. The Family

1. General Considerations

Before the war the typical family was an extended family, in which several generations and relatives lived together or close to each other. The model of an industrial family, with a working husband and a wife who takes care of the children at home, has never been popular in rural regions of Estonia. But the model of a nuclear family (sometimes even without a father) became more common during the war time. The average number of children in the family is still more in towns, but the number of children in families with problems (material, mental and ethical), as well as the number of childless families and the ones with one or two kids, is increasing. The common understanding in Nordic countries, that raising children and taking care of them is the task of society and that relatives can take it as a hobby, has not yet been accepted in Estonia, especially in the rural regions. The importance of families is bigger in rural districts, as the contacts with other people are relatively less frequent.

During the socialist time the government favored the family with supportive taxes (tax on childless families, income tax concessions for the heads of big families), whereas at present the support policy favours smaller families and persons living alone. The criterion of dwelling space for a single person supported by the Government is, for example, 30 square meters, but for every additional person in the family, 18 square meters. At the same time cold and warm water accounts are compiled presuming that everybody consumes water in equal amounts, although in big families dishes and laundry are done together.

Family policy tries to consciously influence the every-day life of families in raising children and fulfilling their other functions. In a broader sense family policy is oriented toward society as a whole and takes other policies (population, economy, education policies) as supportive of the development needs of families. In a narrower sense, family policy directs concrete measures and services to families.

Family policy is carried out by the State (Ministry of Social Affairs), local governments and non-governmental organisations such as the association “Eesti Pere” (Estonian Family),associations of families with many children, associations of single-person households, etc. For the purposes of this policy, the family is a group consisting of two or more persons, the members of which are related by blood, marriage or adoption, and who share common income or habitation.

Family policy is more related to agriculture than to any other economic branch of production, because the family farm is a common production unit.

The legislation that underpins family policy is represented by the family law, the child protection law, etc. Its financial-economic measures can be classified as:

• measures directed to all families with children (children support);

• special measures (unmarried mother, single parent family, family with many children) and for families in different life stages {family expecting a baby, family raising a young child, family educating a child);

• measures for compensating special needs, such as those for bringing up handicapped children and for taking care of family members requiring special care,

• measures to assist parents (supporting childcare centres); and

• support for the nation's educational programmes.

The provisions of the tax laws also are relevant, particularly those related to tax incentives for dependents and the ability to declare taxes jointly by two or more family members.

Psychological and educational measures are directed to evaluating families in the society, strengthening family relations and raising individual welfare of family members. Programmes directed to family development should also be included into the continuing education programmes supported by the government.

The idea of preventive measures is to prepare young people for family life (family lessons at school, advisory service centres and lectures for young people, etc.) and to strengthen families and to anticipate possible problems through sponsoring family-centered joint undertakings and emphasising the importance of families in the society (family days, family conferences, family gettogethers, projects which value the family in the mass media, etc.).

Corrective measures are directed to problem families and improving their functional abilities and increasing their subsistence level (family advisory service centres, social work with families, etc.). Social work also encourages the employment of family members. Equal treatment is given to official and unofficial families when paying social benefits.

2. Children and Youth

In the second half of the 1980s the birth rate of Estonia increased rapidly, but at present it has declined to the lowest level of all time. Now there are few well-educated working families that have a second, third or fourth child, along with both father and mother.

In the 1980s there was a relatively even age pyramid in most of the rural regions and the demographic situation was even more favorable than in towns. However, according to research carried out in 1995–1996 the biggest problem for rural people is the fact that youth wishes to leave the countryside. At the same time the Republic of Estonia and local governments have effectively lacked a youth policy, and only in 1996 was a Youth Law passed and proposals to arrange employment for youths developed.

3. Elderly People

The Soviet Union was popular for having the lowest retiring age - 60 years for men, 55 for women (and 50 for women with many children). Retirement was possible at even an earlier age for persons who had several places of employment. Therefore the proportion of the retired in the population is quite high, even though the average age of Estonians is younger than in most of the well-developed countries. Although retirement has gradually been shifted to a later age, this historical circumstance obviously poses budgetary questions about supporting pensions.

At the end of the socialist period the elderly people whose employment period was longer and who had a higher salary before retiring could get a comparatively generous pension (larger than the salary of specialists with university education). In the transition period the link between the level of the pension and the previous salary was eliminated and most of the pensioners were given a much lower pension. Only the situation of the people who had not been employed improved somewhat, as they were paid the so-called peoples' pension, which was relatively large compared to the earlier minimum pension. In socialist times cooperative farms and agricultural enterprises where the retired people used to work took care of them. (Richer farms had their own care centres, free firewood was provided, social events were organised, their land was cultivated and other bonuses were provided. In connection with the economic reforms the responsibility for caring for the elderly has been delegated to communities, and special organisations unifying the elderly people have been formed.

4. Gender Considerations

As women's average lifetime is longer than men's the total number of women in the countryside exceeds the number of men, as it does nationally. (In pan this was due to the effects of the war and the deportations, but it also reflects a current gender difference in mortality rates.) At the same time there are relatively more men in the age of marriage, although in some regions there are more women as men have gone to work in town (in Hiiumaa and Saaremaa). An additional problem which also causes some friction between men and women is the fact that the educational level of women in the countryside is higher than that of men, and men are not used to having better educated wives whose income could be higher than theirs. The difference of education levels results partly from official educational policy, according to which the girls proceed in their studies in secondary schools whereas some of the boys are directed to vocational schools, from where the probability of pursuing further academic studies is much smaller.

In Estonia there is a relatively high degree of legal and social equality between men and women, compared to other countries. The educational level of women is higher than that of men, and most women are also employed. At the same time there still exists a certain division of labour between men and women, although during the socialist period women were encouraged to become tractor drivers, combine operators and kolkhoz heads.

Women's employment situation in the countryside has become worse in recent years. On farms men have started doing the jobs previously done by women only (milking, accounting). Men however cannot adapt to the socio-economic changes as well as women and in some regions one can see that there are too few mentally and physically strong healthy men who could set examples for children.

5. Migration and Commuting

In the pre-reform period more than half of rural people changed their places of residence at least once in their lifetime, although several measures restricting the migration were in effect (e.g. restrictions on registering into Tallinn and villages on the borders). Migration activity was different in different regions, being especially extensive in the regions where most residents either were deported to Siberia or escaped to foreign countries. It is characteristic to Estonia that the mobility of the rural population is greater than that of the town population, and now thanks to the property reform many people received their land back in the places where they do not live. More conservative attitude characterises the islands and Setumaa. At the same time it should be considered that it is easier for newly arrived persons to carry out innovations, as they are outside the established hierarchy, but innovation can be both positive and negative. Transport is becoming more expensive, and the number of people going to work from the country to town has greatly fallen. The number of people commuting to work from town to the countryside also is relatively small. However, commuting could help to improve the mutual understanding between rural and town people. Land and agricultural reform have caused a big permanent movement from town to the rural areas, and from one rural region to another. This results inevitably in adaptation difficulties and conflicts.

D. Farming and Rural Life

1. Regional Development

There are few regional differences resulting from environmental conditions in Estonia (islands); the majority of the differences are due to economic geography and Government activities (periphery locations far from the capital city, obstacles to free movement on the borders, etc.).

During the socialist period regional policy actually meant giving priorities to Tallinn and the East-Virumaa industrial centres. Later in that period, regional policy was also carried out with the aim of promoting the rural development (differential land taxes, different bulk prices for agricultural products, directing specialists to poor districts, building infrastructure and production units, allocating more loans for certain areas, providing relatively cheap bus, plane, train and ferry tickets, etc.). Regional policy experienced a sudden decline at the beginning of the transitional period when the land tax preferences and policy of regional allocation of specialists were stopped, the importance of other regional measures decreased substantially, and Government policy led to an increase in the differences between conditions in among the regions.

Most of Estonia's population, economy and infrastructure is concentrated in Tallinn and its vicinity. As a result of this, most foreign investments are made in this region and most of the foreign aid also goes there. Many small towns with industrial enterprises face the same difficulties as villages and sparsely populated areas. This proves that part of the solution of the difficult situation in the countryside can lie in the use of regional policy in addition to agricultural policy.

The existing conception of regional policy was adopted by the Estonian Government on 13 December 1994, but in reality it has not functioned very well.

The Department of Local Government and Regional Development at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the relevant departments at the Ministries of Economics and Agriculture as well as the Regional Minister are responsible for the regional policy. Coordination of the activities of the ministries, counties and local governments is carried out by the Board of National Regional Policy (established by the Government decree no. 116 16, in March 1995). For this purpose corresponding departments have been set up in the county governments or there are other departments dealing with issues of regional development; special centres developing entrepreneurship have been created through cooperation of the State and local governments - business centres, entrepreneurship centres, development centres, etc. The official regional policy has primarily been directed to promoting entrepreneurship. The Estonian-Swedish joint project initiated in 1993 offers training, advisory services and foreign contacts to entrepreneurs in its Võru, Viljandi and Jöhvi centres as well as in its Põlva, Valga, Jögeva and Rakvere subsidiaries (1.5 million kroons of State support). Entrepreneurship has also been supported in the Lake Peipsi region, in the borderlands and on smaller islands. At the same time entrepreneurship centres can be found in Tallinn, Tartu, Narva and Pärnu. In 1996 the support mediated by them amounted to 2.2 million kroons. The total sum spent by the Ministry of Internal Affairs was 23 million kroons.

Since 1994 the budgets for regional policy have been annually divided between different services (in 1994 between the State Chancery and Ministry of Agriculture, in 1995 between the Ministries of Internal Affairs and Agriculture and in 1996 to the Ministry of Finance), according to different principles: in 1994 1 mill to South-East Estonia, 0.7 mill. to Viljandi and Pärnu County, 2 mill. to the Lake Peipsi region, 0.7 mill. to East-Virumaa, 0.5 mill. to smaller island; in 1995, 1.78 mill. to regional support systems of entrepreneurship, 1.5 mill. to developing counties, 0.5 mill. of target support to smaller islands, 11 mill. of target support to Peipsi region, 0.6 mill. to national development projects, 13.85 mill. to the regional policy loans, 1.5 mill. to making county plans and development plans, 1.6 mill. the to Hiiumaa cooperative KELP - fallen into bankruptcy by now -and 0.75 mill. for founding the Võru Institute.

In 1996, 6 million kroons were given from the State budget to the islands programme, 7 million to the peripheral land programme, 1 million to the borderland programme, 1.1 million to the village movement programme, 4 million to the monofunctional settlements programme, 4 million to the East-Virumaa programme, 5 million to developing and supporting the bridging system of entrepreneurship, 3 million to arranging the regional development and planning of counties, and 9.5 million for the national regional policy loan. The total sum spent from the State budget was 40.6 million kroons, almost as much as was spent on the reconstruction of a schoolhouse in Tallinn by the Government. At the same time the loans solicited for regional development activities amounted to 150 million kroons, 50 million kroons of which were approved.

There have been over 30 inhabited islands in Estonia. At present permanent habitation has survived on 11 islands (Prangli, Vormsi, Hiiumaa, Saaremaa, Vilsandi, Abruka, Ruhnu, Muhu, Manija, Kihnu and Piirisaar. The existence of a vigorous community on the islands presents a precondition for effective arrangement of border protection and rescue services, sustainable management of natural resources and maintenance of the cultural heritage characteristic of the islands. The aim of present policy is to provide the inhabitants permanently populating the islands with the main services (regular transport, communication, electricity, emergency and rescue services, primary medical care, education) and strengthen the economic development and competitive position of the islands. This requires the availability of staple commodities and necessary services. For this reason harbours and waterways will be built, permanently working communication systems will be created and kept working, provision of electricity 24 hours a day will be guaranteed, airways and landing places for helicopters will be constructed, training centres meeting the needs of the islands will be set up, transport services will be supported (this support is not included in the 6 million kroons) and development work for strengthening the local economy and competitive position of the islands will be carried out.

The programme of monofunctional settlements represents one of the programmes of regional development that has been supported by the State. In 1996, 13 settlements which are in quite different situations (Kehra, Aseri, Aravete, Koeru, Taebla, Palivere, Kunda, Rakke, Sindi, Tootsi, Järvakandi, Puhja, Vöhma) were allowed to participate in this programme. The biggest settlement is Kunda with relatively well developed local business. Agricultural products were processed only in Vōhma but unfortunately the programme could not avoid the bankruptcy of Vöhma Meat Factory and the corresponding results. Several settlements, where the enterprise processing agricultural products is also the biggest industrial enterprise (Palamuse, Rannu, Imavere, etc.) are not included in the programme. It is intended to extend the list of settlements to 30–40 and to include also smaller settlements in 1997.

It must also be recognised that in effect regional policy has been creating more favourable conditions for Tallinn (lower land tax, privatising land more cheaply than its market price, more public investments, location of government institutions and foreign legations, etc.). It appears that there is a continuing net transfer of resources from poorer to richer regions, in spite of the regional development programmes.

The amounts of social subsidies provided do not take into account the differing average income levels of the regions. Therefore the means placed at the command of rural communities are insufficient for them to guarantee a standard of living comparable to that of other regions.

2. Borderlands

The programme of the borderlands is one of the regional-political programmes resulting from the concept of regional policy. The project is financed at least 30% by the community and the remaining amount by the national Government. During the Soviet period priorities were given to developing the capital, country centres, big industrial centres and farm centres. Differences between the centre and borderlands have even intensified. In connection with imposing new frontier regulations on the Russian-Latvian border, and shifting the social function of kolkhozes and sovkhozes to communities, new borderlands have been established. The programmes of European Council have so far supported primarily the coastal regions and in the case of joining the EU this tendency is going to be reinforced.

3. Settlement Activities

Settlement activities were one of the most extensive social-political measures in Estonia before the war and after the independence period. Before the war, settlement activities were aimed at starting to use uncultivated lands and relieving unemployment in the countryside. During the socialist period only the so-called promising settlements were officially developed. Since the end of 1980s attention has been concentrated on the regions which are already populated, but which are missing some important elements of infrastructure (schools, electricity transmission lines, wells, grain driers). At the same time the term “settlement activities” has acquired a negative reputation, as it is presumed to imply that regions with no development potential are being revived and the funding could be better used elsewhere. As a result, settlement activities are receiving less funding than before.

From 1991 to 1995, 268 km of roads, 8 bridges, 447 crossing culverts, 124 electrical substations, 20.7.7 km of power lines, and 60.4 km of communication lines were built. Also, 28 local schoolhouses, 5 community centres, 14 shops or farm-stores, 28 facilities for the common use of all persons (grain drying rooms, sawmills and grain mills, buildings of machinery co-operatives, etc.) and 95 wells for households were built or restored, and 295.6 km of main ditches and flow channels for future land improvement were dug for operating farms.

In 1991–1995 EEK 60.4 m of State budget resources were allocated for settlement activities, their share totaling on average 0.27% of the national budget's general expenditures per year. The main attention has been paid to improving traffic conditions (33.7% of total expenditures); the second priority has been maintenance of electrical supply and communications (24.2%); and the third priority has been restoration of facilities for education, culture and other social activities (18.6%).

4. Village Policy

Officially settlements are classified as towns, small towns, boroughs and villages. This chapter describes the present boroughs and villages (both called villages hereafter). In the future there will be community towns, i.e., small towns having no self government.

A village is determined by its location, territory, infrastructure (roads, communications, mail boxes, milk trestles, bus stops, shops, culture centre, library, information centre, school, kindergarten, garbage collection, water supply, heating system). Usually much of the infrastructure is used jointly by several villages. A village is a place where people live and act together, each with its own historical heritage and attitudes. The village as an organisation has its own management (village chief) and voluntary organisations (families, societies, church). Every village has a different mentality: the “our” feeling, the names (official, commonly used, real), traditions, values, and self- identification.

The quality of life in villages depends on the people who are interested in developing them. A village needs a development plan determining the common interests and agreements as well as government support. In general, villages lack sufficient information on development options and training and advisory service. Cooperation between villages is weak.

The development of villages is very uneven in Estonia. Joint village activities have survived in Setumaa and some other regions. Most villages lost their original character and meaning during the socialist period, when the central role was played by a department of a kolkhoz or a sovkhoz and the relevant brigade. The borders and names of villages were changed deliberately without considering the actual situation and people's opinions. That is why current official statistics about villages cannot be relied on. At the same time, new residential districts with detached houses and blocks of flats were established as new villages. Previous communities were re-established in the transition period. But the villages do not have an independent legal status and usually a village is represented by voluntary organisations (societies, clubs).

The village as the first level of self government works actively in the regions where the continuity has not been interrupted and in the counties where a village movement has been actively introduced.(e.g. Rapla, East Virumaa). This kind of experience sets a good example to others. The self initiative of many villages has been expressed through the movement “Kodukant” (Homeplace), functioning since 1993 and involving about 150 villages. “Kodukant” has different structure in different counties and villages. Their programme has two principal aims: a) encourage local initiative and active attitudes (creating development groups; making development plans; organising village days, seminars, training courses, information centres, and supportive centres for rural women); and b) to support and encourage entrepreneurship, especially small business and medium size enterprises (projects of farm machinery, starting farm tourism, business days.

One of the national government's six regional policy programmes started in 1996 is meant for supporting village life. The funding of the programme in 1996 was quite low at 1.1 million kroons. The aim of the programme is to enliven village life. The events supported have three goals: a) to increase the willingness of rural people to open their own businesses and to support the development of small businesses in the rural areas; b) to encourage a re-orientation of rural people's attitudes from the traditional agricultural activities to the opportunities of the new economic situation; and c) to raise their competitive position on the labour market and to promote society life and make rural regions into more attractive places to live. The programme requires that the following requirements be satisfied: village people learn to design and draft projects, the support is received near their home places, and they learn to ask for help from the local entrepreneurs and local governments. All nonprofit associations (societies, development groups, youth unions) can apply for support. It is advisable that the association be registered and that it owns a bank account. In case the organisation is not registered, the members can authorise somebody from among them to make the application using the community bank account. Support for each such organisation can be 1,000 to 5,000 kroons. Applications are presented to county governments twice a year (May 25 and Oct. 1) and are examined by the commissions organised by county governments and coordinated by selfgovernment associations.

The programme has given rural people experience in writing applications (on the basis of a model project) and has improved contacts between the county governments and communities. The programme's administrative structure includes the representatives of villages, managers of subprojects and representatives of ministries. At the same time the corresponding structures have not been established in Harju, Järva, Lääne-Viru and J5geva counties. In Jögeva and West Virumaa the county government has taken on the task of promoting village life. The necessary information has been published in the newspaper “Maaleht” (Rural Paper). Relevant issues have also been published in county papers. While recognising these contributions it should be mentioned that State support has been insufficient when compared to the development needs of villages.

It is also necessary to develop villages that join together smaller communities, as several communities are too small. The village should take over the functions of the small communities. United communities could fulfill vital tasks that have so far been neglected.

5. Subsistence Farms

Already in the socialist period it became a tradition, in towns as well as in the countryside, to grow one's own potatoes, vegetables, fruit and berries. Small personal plots accounted for over one third of the total production of these items. It was also a custom to make one's own jams and other preserves. This tradition has still survived, and for some families it is highly essential as they lack a permanent income source enabling them to buy their own food. For other families it is just a hobby, a summer activity, which is also regarded as a guarantee for a better food quality. On one hand this practice represented a kind of resistance to the official collectivisation, and on the other hand Government policy favoured seasonal subsistence farming as source of additional income which the cooperative farms failed to provide.

The subsistence farms now are the previous individual household plots from collective and State farms and small private farms. They provide the main source of income for many rural people but often fail to be competitive, due to inappropriate production technology, and they often do not provide sufficient income for coping with everyday life. Nevertheless, they are by far the most numerous kind of farm in the sector (see Chapter 3), so improving their productivity and the living conditions of their families is an urgent national priority.

As subsistence farms have not been officially registered, those families cannot apply for the corresponding governmental benefits. People living on these farms are also not covered by the sick fund as they are not retired and they are not working elsewhere.

6. Common Activities

Estonian rural regions can be characterised as having many common activities reflecting local initiative, which used to include both joint labour (threshing, dung removal and other common local gatherings for work activities), sharing services (dairy, threshing machine) and mutual help. People used to exchange foodstuffs, help each other in case of emergencies and take care of the local beggars. These traditions started to disappear in connection with the spread of socialist principles, i.e., the philosophy that the State has to take care of everything.

Very often only the activity of legally registered cooperatives is considered as the legacy of this tradition, although internationally recognised non-profit societies (farm societies, horticulture and apiculture societies) represent the cooperation principles much better. Several cooperatives have been established only to make use of the legal priority established in the privatisation process and they are actually discrediting the term cooperation.

A good example of cooperation is the horticulture cooperatives initiated already in the period of the Soviet Union and being now re-organised. On one hand they cover a great part of the needs of town people for vegetables and flowers, and on the other hand they give an opportunity for local people to ensure themselves a higher quality of foodstuffs and gain experience in cooperation and cooperative management.

E. Education

1. Basic Education and Childcare

This level of education concerns children of pre-school age. It is a service at the private or municipal level, that is, it is financed by local administration and the user of the service has to pay for it partly, often in food and teaching materials. If the local administration so decides, the service offered by private companies can be subsidised. The period for offering this service, as a rule, coincides with ordinary business hours. Giving basic education side by side with the function of child care is becoming more popular. Its principal benefit is that the children will be helped to achieve the maturity needed for attending school. Economically it is quite a suitable area also for private entrepreneurs. Now there is also a new trend - childcare together with elementary education being delivered at home. Childcare at home can be offered by people with the corresponding qualifications.

Childcare can't be dealt with apart from giving a basic education, no matter whether it is given at home, in a kindergarten or through any other form. It is possible to give basic education to all children. No matter whether the child goes to the kindergarten or gets basic education at home, they are eligible for equal municipal subsidies (in cases in which those do exist). For parents employed in any sphere, agricultural producers included, the combination of childcare with education offers a chance to devote themselves to their everyday work without being afraid that the children will not be taken care of or will not get a basic education.

At the present moment financing for basic education is provided by local administrations and the parents who offset costs of teaching and food. Children of low-income families can get some support from social welfare offices.

2. Kindergartens

Before the war the network of schools was very dense, but during the socialist period the number of schools decreased above all in the more populated regions. Small schools were reestablished in the first years of the transition period and in connection with the increase of the birthrate. However, many parents try to enroll their children in bigger schools located away from their places of residence, as more graduates can enter the university from big schools. Since 1996 there has been increased economic pressure to close smaller schools, as the Government allocates money according to the number of students.

By the end of the socialist period the network of kindergartens was well established in the countryside, comparable with the situation in other European states. The shortcoming was overconcentration, resulting sometimes in several hundred kids in one kindergarten, and there were children who were kept overnight. Taking children to the kindergartens and back home was organised by the State and collective farms. During the transition period many mothers tried to raise their children at home and communities started to close kindergartens. The cost per student has constantly increased, and in addition parents now have to pay for the food (earlier only partly). Despite all that parents have become more enthusiastic about having their children in kindergartens. Where there is a lack of kindergartens children are left at home alone while mother is at work or shopping. The problem of childcare is especially acute in regions where parents commute to work in nearby towns, because schools are not open for enough hours during the day to cover the parents' periods of absence.

Children who do not attend kindergarten will not get basic education. In the case of talented children this may not be a problem, except for the socialising impact of kindergarten, the lack of which might become a problem during later stages of progress. Children with average abilities might have some problems in mastering functional literacy, etc., during their first school years. This can go unnoticed for 3–4 years and after that catching up can be much more difficult. If the corresponding service is lacking in a given area, the population of a suitable age for starting a family will move to other areas. So the development of such a region will become stunted, as there will be no human resource potential for the future.

Besides the essential value of basic education and the freedom it gives to family members, a kindergarten is one good option for creating rural employment. This will also expand the local base for income tax revenues. Interesting options are being offered in the form of private kindergartens and services of childcare at home. Kindergartens also increase the market for local farmers as they can supply them with foodstuffs.

3. Elementary Education

Elementary education has been given a great significance by the government and makes up an inseparable part of general education. National standards have been developed. All the employees participating in the process of elementary education (even parents) can make use of corresponding additional training. Parents who want to give their children basic education themselves can master corresponding methodology by taking additional training. However, the development of the school maturity of children getting their elementary education at home may also be checked.

In accordance with existing legislation elementary education is a compulsory pan of education. The availability of elementary education is also directly associated with the regional development of rural areas. Elementary education includes nine levels of the general education process and has been regulated by educational legislation, national teaching programmes and school organisation acts. It has been financed partly by the national government (wages of teachers and generally used textbooks). The right to an elementary education is guaranteed to all children. Teaching is carried out both in the Estonian and Russian languages.

Estonia is more or less covered with a network of schools providing basic elementary and high school education. Learning opportunities have also been created for children with special requirements. The main problems in rural areas are the lack of personnel of the required qualifications, a scarcity of younger personnel, a lack of teachers of foreign languages, and little opportunity for teachers to teach some subjects in smaller country schools. The abruptly falling birthrate following the high birthrate that could be observed after the “singing revolution” makes the planning of education difficult. Small country schools that haven't been closed yet face this danger. From the year 2005 onward the situation will be especially complicated. There will also be serious difficulties with planning the personnel as in the coming next years there will be an excess of teachers of first classes (elementary education), while at the same time the number of high school teachers will be too small. Such a situation will prevail for 3 – 4 years, so re-training, which would be a good solution for a longer period, will be practically useless.

Teachers do not want jobs in small rural settlements, as there are many problems: limited number of persons of their age and limited opportunities for communication (it is also difficult to find a spouse), difficulties in finding a place for living, an income level which is not commensurate with their responsibilities, workload and level of education. At the same time teachers in smaller rural settlements have large salaries compared to other local jobs and this can cause local social tension.

As there will be the transition period for shifting the financing of educational establishments to a system of head taxes, there will be problems with financing and management of small schools. Very often those buildings are in bad condition and need considerable amounts of money to be maintained. Without any repairs the maintenance expenditures will be even bigger.

In rural areas the chances for getting support for general education out of school are also more limited. The same applies for availability of communications, mass media, etc., not to mention computer networks. In many places there are also no libraries. As the distances between schools and homes are greater, the expenditures for education will be bigger compared to those of equal education levels of urban children.

Research has shown that people getting their education out of their place of residence will usually go to live to other places.

4. High School/Gymnasium Education

The links between high schools and earlier levels of education are very close. High schools prepare young people for independent life and provide the prerequisites for entering colleges and vocational schools. They have been regulated on national level like elementary education, but high school is not compulsory. Local administrations are responsible for organising the availability of high school education if there are enough interested families. In rural areas this means that they have to open high school classes or pay a tax per pupil to other local administrations where such classes already exist. Maintenance expenditures are covered by local administrations, and wages of teachers and money to buy textbooks comes from the Government. High school education can be integrated with occupational education, and schools can have their own orientation - humanitarian or practical, etc.

5. Vocational Education and Training

The situation of vocational education and labour force training is difficult at the present moment. Estonia stands at the beginning of a new stage in its development. The system of definitions and legislation is insufficient and has no single interpretation in practice. Compared to the quick, wide-ranging and fundamental policy changes Estonia has made in many areas, labour force training turns out to be inert and outdated.

Reforms of vocational education were initiated in the end of the 1980s, but reforms that would involve the whole system have not started yet. At the present moment the conceptual framework for professional education is being completed by the Ministry of Education, the process of updating the educational legislation has been initiated, discussions concerning private education have been started, etc. Important and realistic reform activities are being carried out at 13 pilot schools supported by PHARE, where individual fields of specialisation are being updated, considering the real development needs of the economy and society, and also drawing upon the experience of analogous systems of Europe.

Problems concerning vocational education and training are reviewed extensively in section II below.

F. Assessments of Rural Social Services 1.

1. Institutional Responsibilities

The local sovkhoz or kolkhoz or county and public ATK were mostly engaged in dealing with social problems in rural areas before the reform period. Owing to the agricultural and land reforms, new arrangements have had to be made for rural social services, starting from zero. Thanks to the activities of the Social Ministry, foreign consultants and foreign aid, good results have been achieved in some areas quite quickly. During recent years the progress has slowed down to some extent, as there have been recurring changes among the staff, and experiences have not been generalised.

The Social Ministry does not take the responsibility of solving regional problems, and at the same time social and regional problems are very often intertwined in the countryside. However, they are dealt by different units of the Government. Social programmes are delegated from the Ministry to county governments and from county governments to local governments.

2. Public Opinion about Social Services

According to survey information, the most acute problems in rural life in 1985 included drinking (49% of the respondents mentioned this as a serious problem), pollution (44%), bad attitude to work, extinction of old villages, scarcity of efficient agricultural machines, lack of spare parts, excessive comfort, carelessness of people, poor quality of services, inadequately developed commerce, inadequate health care, decline of working skills and willingness to work by the younger generation, insufficient pay, and bad transportation and road conditions (32–27%).

More than a decade later, in the summer of 1996, representatives of rural communities had the following opinion about Estonian rural life:

• one half thought that Estonian rural life was going downwards although it has not reached the bottom yet;

• one fifth thought that the rural life was at the bottom; and

• one fourth thought that the rural life had reached the bottom and was going to move upwards (M. Paas).

Table 8-6 summarises the results of a survey of rural residents about their working and living conditions. It can be seen that, at present, lack of sufficient employment opportunities and the poor perspectives for rural youths are the most serious concerns.

From Table 8-A11 in the appendix, it can be seen that rural opinion is very much in favour of improvements in infrastructure for communications and transport, and economic protection for farmers against food imports. It is most negative about quick accession to the European Union and about local village leaders.

Table 8-7, nevertheless, shows a slightly positive opinion on free trade with Europe, along with concern about the interruption of trade with Russia and our current system of elections to Parliament.

Table 8-6
Assessments of Community Residents
Of Their Work and Living Environments

Table 8-7
Opinions about Influences on Regional Development by Economically Active Inhabitants in Eight Communities, 1995

(* Scale:
+3 essentially improved peoples prosperity
.................................................................
0 does not influence positively nor negatively
.................................................................
-3 essentially worsened peoples prosperity

Source: “Changes of Rural Life“, Institute of Rural Development, 1995

II. Issues, Constraints and Possibilities

A. Theoretical Standpoints

Social policy is an agreement between different social groups and political forces concerning which should be the responsibility of society concerning the ability of individuals to meet their essential needs, and how such policy should be expressed (Lauri Lepik). Social policy is tightly connected with economic, cultural, educational and other types of policies.

Social policy cannot be carried out without considering other fields of human activities. In Estonian society social policy has a broader meaning than just communication between customer and service provider, and regulation by the State. Problems connected with infrastructure, resources, and the existence of village life and development also belong here.

A principal problem of rural social policy is how to motivate a person to live and work in the countryside where, in part because of Government policy, life is more expensive and offers less opportunities than are available in towns. A closely related problem is how to reform and restructure local and national institutions, both governmental and non-governmental, so that basic social and economic services of a better quality are provided in rural areas.

Some basic social needs are also economic, starting with employment, or economic support in the case of unemployment. Other examples are adequate housing, health care, and transportation and communication services. But although social needs have an economic dimension, they are fundamentally based in human nature. Examples of social needs where the human aspect predominates over the economic one include access to counselling for problems of mental health and family problems; access to emergency services (firemen, police, medical personnel); a sense of political participation in decisions which affect a person, especially decisions at the local level; a sense of personal security; and access to healthy entertainment and cultural and educational resources.

It should not be forgotten that a basic social need is access to challenging opportunities for personal growth and fulfillment, throughout one's life. There are other needs which are specific to demographic groups. Children need human warmth and guidance. Elderly people need companionship. Women in rural areas have been particularly affected by the increase in unemployment, so access to job training and employment opportunities is especially important for them.

Unemployment is a complex concept comprising:

• Open unemployment.

• Hidden employment (incomes are not stated, taxes are not paid).

• Working for a minimum salary, which in the end is smaller than the subsidies for the unemployed.

• Part-time employment when full-time employment is desired.

• Employment at jobs below one's skill levels.

In case of fictitious unemployment, taxes are not paid to the State and the sums that are paid out as subsidies could be used for solving other social problems. Unemployment, no matter in which form, can affect a person both morally and psychologically and as in most cases the unemployment concerns relatively young people, it also raises the problem of establishing cultural values for two generations. Unemployment causes low self-esteem, lessened creativity and sometimes an attitude of unwillingness to learn.

Social insurance and social care are not adequate substitutes for employment. In fact, generously provided subsidies and aid can ruin people morally, teaching them how to be helpless rather than to find ways to meet their own needs.

Social policy should not only deal with the needy, abnormal or disturbed persons in society, but it should also assign priority to creating better living conditions for all people. So far in the transition period the Government has paid little attention to this problem. While ultimately the solutions must arise out of individuals themselves, communities, voluntary associations and other decentralised groupings in society, the Government is responsible for developing a framework which will facilitate the emergence of solutions at these levels.

The other broad problem of social policy is in identifying the responsibilities in this area of the State and the individual, local and national governments, and governmental and nongovemmental institutions. A well-rooted idea dating back to the socialist period and imported from prosperous Scandinavian countries claims that ensuring a minimum standard of living is the business of the State, not the business of the person himself. An attitude that social policy and regional policy are responsible for helping those who need help, not for creating better conditions for everybody, is also widespread in Europe. Instead of supporting self initiative and eliminating obstacles, goals for individuals are established through centralised decision-making. According to the common opinion, social work should above all lie within the domain of local governments, but they do not have enough resources for that.

At present the bigger part of State resources is allocated for developing Tallinn, and the same is the case with political decisions. A basic question concerns the priority that should be given to the development of other regions of Estonia.

While social policy needs to be reformulated and appropriate measures need to be taken to implement it, it should be borne in mind that social problems cannot be solved only by issuing new laws and regulations. Not everything can be foreseen in drafting legislation, and rules alone do not create an adequate social environment. There must be room for the expression, in a social context, of the individuality and creativity of persons.

Secondly, it is often considered that the more governmental services are offered, the higher development stage is achieved. The negative side of this is that civil servants become interested, perhaps without realising it, in increasing the people's dependency. This can result in a trained helplessness - people are less willing to manage themselves and help their relatives. The amount of official services has become so large that local governments are forced to limit them to avoid the growth of their debts over the critical limit.

Support should be given to approaches in which conditions enabling the needy persons manage for themselves are created by local governments and civil servants. Charity and volunteer work should also be developed (self-realisation spending one's own time, attention and money for helping other people and doing useful work free).

According to the paradigm popular in Europe, the family loses its social role and the individual is directly connected with the State. This approach has created a lot of problems which the society has not been able to solve (acquired helplessness, lack of care of relatives, officials are incapable of substituting for family members, society is incapable of offering services in the present amount because of their costs and the number of service users is constantly increasing). At the same time family relations have been maintained in a broader sense (not only mother-father-children). Continuity of the social role of family requires the corresponding policy (housing, children's policy supporting the raising of children at home, Government support to relatives taking care of handicapped, income tax policy considering all dependents, etc.).

B. Poverty Issues

At the end of the socialist period the living standard in the countryside was higher than it was in towns, although the average working hours were longer in the countryside. Officially poverty presented no problem and was thus the Government did not devote attention to the issue. One of the few measures taken by the Government was providing schoolchildren with free lunches or lunches at reduced prices. In 1991 the real wages decreased 39% and in 1992, 41%. Later on the real wages started to increase in towns. At first the prices of foodstuffs and public utilities were deliberately kept low, which alleviated somewhat the poverty resulting from the decreased real wages, but soon retail prices of foodstuffs were not subsidised anymore and the prices of public utilities are also gradually rising to a level where they will cover their cost.

While food is expensive for the poor now, it is cheap in Estonia compared to other European countries, as Estonia differs from most of developed countries in not having established import restrictions on foodstuffs, whereas the prices of many industrial goods and services are practically the same as in well-developed European countries. During the transition period the assets represented by properties having been obtained earlier (like houses, animal stables, cattle, cars, machinery, clothes, arable land) were drawn down in order to subsist, but as the income levels in the countryside are half those of Tallinn and also much smaller than in most of the towns, those assets are going to be exhausted soon.

Inadequate nutrition is a sign of poverty. The required amount of calories is generally obtained even in poor households, but not that of vegetables, fruit and proteins. Among the poor, preserves and processed food with expired shelf lives are often used instead of food made freshly. Many children cannot have hot meals unless local governments support school catering programmes. Subsistence households in rural areas very often do not keep cows, the vegetables and fruit they produce do not last until spring, and salted meat and sausage are used as meat products. Improving school catering by using locally produced food could be one possibility of improving the nutrition situation while at the same time encouraging agricultural production.

Some of the people living below the poverty line move to towns without being able to find a source of income there that could be legal and sufficient, and thus the social basis for crime is created. Sometimes the homeless that require social help, but do not receive it, go to dumps surrounding the towns, while others stay in the countryside.

The Government has so far supported the poor with subsistence and lodging subsidies. As the necessary expenditures on lodgings and basic amenities (warm water, central heating, sewage system) are greater in the larger towns, these government subsidies have been set at the same level in town and country, although the living standard in the countryside is much lower. In 1997, the monthly sum provided for a single-person household for subsistence is 460 kroons, 70% of which is added for each additional family member.

In judging poverty levels, it should be taken into account that agriculture and rural life offer possibilities to satisfy one's needs which are difficult to measure in monetary terms. In rural areas, there is less dependence on other people's rhythm of work, more freedom to plan one's time, less tension due to frequent and obligatory communication with other people that one doesn't know, greater safety, the advantages of working in the open air, and other advantages. Nevertheless, it is clear that rural poverty has worsened in recent years. It also is evident from the economic situation of the nation that a lasting solution to rural poverty cannot come from agricultural development only, that it also will require greater decentralisation of industry and services and development of modern amenities and social services in rural centres.

Poverty is a phenomenon characteristic of the economic transition and the effectiveness of the solution depends on how the problem is treated. In many places in the world, often the fight against poverty has been focused more on alleviating its symptoms (low incomes, illnesses, crimes) rather than its causes, and therefore poverty has not decreased and has even increased in some cases. It is very important to learn from the mistakes of others and try to develop policies which will place poor families on a path to betterment which they can sustain through their own efforts.

Poverty especially affects the elderly, since many retirement pensions have been drastically reduced. In addition, for the elderly special problems rise from the low population density of rural areas which means that many services are not easily available. Social workers cannot reach every village. On the other hand, elderly people generally are not willing to leave their homes, where they have lived for a long time.

C. Living Conditions and Security

1. Housing

During the socialist period building was carried out on quite a large scale in the countryside. On richer farms private houses were built, in the poorer ones blocks of flats. As a result of this, only a few rural regions are now facing a lack of living accommodations. The problems are more in the quality and high maintenance costs. Very often flats and houses have been left empty and they fall apart.

It is quite naive to search for solutions for housing policy only by dealing with problems of central settlements. The problems of the person living in a private house in the country are as important, because run-down residences represent social, material, moral and cultural problems in Estonian village life. As a rule, a family living in a private house can get fewer subsidies from the Government, although their living conditions may be much worse than those of families in flats.

2. Security

With the deterioration in public safety, rural people are now scared to live in their own houses, located far from the central village. In the pre-reform period and during the early years of the reform the crime rate in the country was lower than in town. At the same time it was not considered inappropriate to bring something home from large farms (although according to the criminal code the punishment for this was severe), to use the machinery of state farms in one's own fields, or to use the State machinery for earning money in others fields. During the recent years there has been a growing tendency to steal also from small farms and household plots.

D. Health Issues

1. Health care

Health policy is not favourable to rural people. The health of rural people has become worse and it is worse than that of town people. The health of people employed in agriculture has suffered the most (on the average they are older). The transition to insurance-based medicine has deprived many rural people of free medical attention as they have not been insured, either from lack of awareness or from lack of opportunities. It is time-consuming and expensive to consult specialists who work in towns. Funds to cover the costs of illnesses often prefer tertiary care and ambulatory treatment, but preventive care is more available and the secondary care is underfinanced. It is necessary to solve the problems concerning disease prevention, introducing the population to more healthy ways of life and developing programmes to control vocational illnesses. Rural people visit the doctor only in emergencies, often when diseases have become chronic.

2. Handicapped People

People with obvious major handicaps used to be isolated in special schools or welfare institutions, but very often they had to live in bad conditions. During recent years more and more problems of the handicapped have been made public, and being handicapped does not carry the same social stigma it used to. However, during the transition period some of the institutions that provided for the needs of the handicapped have been liquidated and the people who lived there must now cope with their lives themselves. At the same time the general situation in several welfare institutions has improved, and so have their material resources. There were special societies dealing with the problems of handicapped, although they did not reach rural regions. These organisations are continuing their activities nowadays, and in addition there are now a number of voluntary organisations and community social workers who are performing similar functions. In general, taking care of the handicapped is not a problem, but more attention should be paid to their earlier integration to the society. This requires training, living and working opportunities. It is also necessary to identify the handicap as early as possible, so that it would be possible to help and compensate with training and aid. This is difficult in families where children's development is not watched carefully.

3. Alcoholism and Drugs

In socialist times it was possible to direct people to compulsory treatment for alcoholism. The Government had a monopoly on producing alcoholic drinks (except beer and wines), and consumption of alcohol was to some extent a part of the social culture. Since the 1980s the consumption of strong drinks on official occasions has decreased. At the same time, due to the weakening of governmental restrictions, advertising for alcoholic drinks and cigarettes has greatly increased.

Alcoholism represents one of the biggest problem for rural regions. Alcoholic women raising children are particularly dangerous for the society. Great numbers of crimes are committed in a state of drunkenness. This usually produces absenteeism from work and leads people to become used to living on Government subsidies. The sales of illegal alcohol and surrogates (raw spirits) has become quite popular in the countryside. The usage of drugs can be encountered in younger people; however this tendency is more widespread in towns. Making hallucinogenic drugs is not known yet.

E. Education

1. Basic and General Education

Standard teaching programmes for kindergarten education are just being developed but it still is not available for all the children as sometimes there are not sufficient financial resources for maintaining the schools. There are also regional differences - in towns, central settlements and outlying areas both financial options and the situation concerning the distance of kindergarten from places of living and working are different. There are no uniform teaching materials. Some of the personnel does not have the required specialised education. Additional training programmes are being developed, availability in different regions is different. The service is rather expensive both in cases of municipal or private form of ownership (as a rule, the parents have to pay for food and teaching materials, in case of private kindergartens also for maintenance and wages on employees). At the same time children attending municipal kindergartens are being subsidised, and those who do not attend kindergarten because of insufficient family resources do not benefit from that subsidy.

Problems related to availability of the service of childcare plus basic education can be of a regional character. In places where the population increment is small there will be some difficulties with maintenance and upkeep of the buildings and kindergartens as an institution. In some regions such a situation has caused liquidation of some kindergartens hence the service is less available for the remaining population of such regions. Secondly, the availability of this service is not as good for families with unemployed people and low income. Such a situation is quite contrary, as theoretically it should be cheaper to have a child in a kindergarten as compared to bringing the child up at home. Here there is another big problem: how to make this service available for children of asocial families.

The network of high schools is more problematic than the network of elementary schools. Several “weak” high schools could function better as basic schools. The quality of education varies considerably among high schools, and it is especially deficient in rural areas. This makes the introduction of uniform national examinations for getting into a college more difficult. Many rural schools are even weaker in the teaching of more specialised materials, including foreign languages.

2. Vocational Education and Training

In section above it was mentioned that the system of vocational education and labour force training is quite weak and outdated. Improving it will be of crucial importance for reducing rural unemployment.

The labour market has been studied very little and the results achieved are insufficient to be used in organising vocational education and training. Up to now vocational training groups are being started, using the method of trial and error, not based upon demands for certain professions. Students graduating from gymnasiums, to say nothing of students graduating from basic schools, have as a rule no professional preparation. Occupational training is included into teaching programmes of basic schools or gymnasiums only in some areas (Tartu, for example).

Presently there are insufficient contacts between training programmes and organisations of employers and employees. This is due to lack of interest or weaknesses of the corresponding organisations. At the same time certain employers have initiated the labour training they require. In assessing international experience in vocational training, the International Labour Organisation has emphasised that participation of associations of employers in the design of the programmes is critical to their success, in terms of placing the graduates in jobs.

Some vocational schools offering labour force training are being closed down, especially in outlying districts. Budget cutting policies are being followed. Regional development and regional problems are not being considered. An idea has been expressed to transfer vocational schools from the control of the Government to the control of local and regional administrations. At the same time doubts are also being expressed: the regions might not be able to support such institutions and the Government won't give enough subsidies to enable them to do it. At the same time, at the ministerial level there have been some hints that those institutions have no idea of rational management, their curricula are not designed in light of the real needs of the economy, and they suffer from other weaknesses.

Labour force training is under the control of both the development Ministries of Education and Agriculture, and there are no clear principles for cooperation. At the same time, the vocational schools under the control of the Ministry of Agriculture express no wish to be transferred to the control of the Ministry of Education, out of fear that their problems wouldn't be understood then.

Problems arising from inconsistent nomenclature, certificates, licences, training methods, etc., have not been solved yet. Capable individuals have the chance to start some training, at the same time there is a situation sometimes where after good and sound training there is no chance to issue the corresponding certificate. The personnel offering labour force training itself has insufficient and outof-date training. There is no new generation and the continuing training of trainers is not sufficiently organised. At the same time there is very little literature and other teaching materials concerning vocational education. The material that is not available for vocational education usually do not answer to modern requirements, the location of training centres often is not suitable, and working spaces are inconvenient. Although national programmes to improve other kinds of education have been started, in vocational education there is no up-to-date work being done with teaching programmes.

Everything that has been said already also goes for agricultural vocational education, and some problems are even more seriously felt. Agricultural educational institutions are facing the need to change because of decreasing opportunities for agricultural activities. At many schools modern specialities are being taught - rural tourism, landscape cultivation, land surveying, computer sciences, etc

It is not possible to solve the problems of agricultural schools using only educational programmes, for that purpose we need economic policies that are more favourable to agricultural development and more appropriate rural social and regional policies. Among other things, since the future directions of agriculture are not clear it is very difficult to reorganise the content of agricultural education

Although the number of people employed in agricultural production is decreasing, the number of small enterprises (farms) in rural areas is increasing, and therefore the need for people with a solid agricultural education is even more urgent than before.

The role of vocational education in college education is also important. One positive tendency is that universities have started to open applied specialities that are of shorter duration and mean giving the students vocational education. Also, some new forms of training are emerging, for example, distance or correspondence training at TU, TTU and TPI, as open university programmes.