A special needs school in the western Estonian town of Haapsalu will be getting an upgrade thanks to state aid. The school, the Haapsalu Viigi kool, had until now been administered by the state, but it running will be handed over to local government.
The improvement of schools' ventilation systems being so time-consuming and costly have forced local governments to buy air purifiers instead. It will be years before schools see updated ventilation systems installed.
The government approved €30 million in supplemental budget resources to improve ventilation systems in schools and kindergartens, but local municipality governments will only allocate €13.4 million to ventilation systems, spending the rest on sidewalks and street lighting.
The government's allocated €30 million for upgrading schools' ventilation systems had only been used so far by half of those local governments interviewed, meaning the work is delayed.