65 teachers from Läänemaa were submitted to the competition

Tiina Brock, a teacher of Estonian language and literature at Läänemaa co-ed high school, uses mathematics to learn how to put commas. Photo: Kaire Reiljan

65 candidates from Lääne County were submitted to the Estonian Teacher of the Year competition. All over Estonia, a total of 1,620 candidates were submitted to the teacher of the year competition in 13 categories.

As usual, a large number of applications were received for the competition from the two largest cities – Tallinn and Tartu. Among the counties, the most candidates were submitted from Harju, Pärnu, Ida-Viru and Saaremaa. In terms of categories, candidates were most actively submitted in the categories kindergarten teacher of the year (342), elementary school subject teacher of the year (229), class teacher of the year (191) and class teacher of the year (182).

Now the regional commissions and the higher education commission will start work to determine the finalists. Then, in the summer, the nominees and laureates of all categories will be determined by the decision of the National Education Awards Committee. Candidates for lifetime achievement awards are evaluated by a national committee, which includes representatives of organizations related to education, educational workers recognized in previous years and contributors to educational life.

The government awards a national annual award of 10,000 euros and a lifetime achievement award of 65,000 euros to the best of the competition in each category.

The awards will be given at the teacher of the year gala on October 5 in the Jõhvi concert hall.