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Description
The Federation of Estonian Students’ Union represents all higher education students in Estonia comprising of 14 higher education institution student councils in Estonia operating in Tallinn, Tartu, Pärnu, Narva, Haapsalu, and Kuressaare. EÜL’s vision is to stand for students’ rights, needs, and interests on the national level and support the student council’s work in doing so. The ACF organizational grant enables the Federation to increase the knowledge of student representatives on policy issues related to higher education, increase the knowledge of students on their rights and obligations and also engage their members more effectively in their policy and advocacy work.
Summary of project results
The project aimed to address several key challenges related to the development of the Estonian Federation of Student Unions (EÜL) in two main strategic directions: EÜL as an advocacy organization and EÜL as a network. One of the primary challenges was raising students'' awareness of their rights and responsibilities, as well as increasing the number of student representatives who are knowledgeable about higher education issues.
Additionally, the project sought to enhance the awareness of EÜL’s members regarding their roles, responsibilities, and opportunities while ensuring their active participation and development in the fields of education and advocacy. To achieve these goals, EÜL aimed to gather insights from students (including prospective students) about the information they lacked and make this information accessible to all students studying in Estonia, including those who do not speak Estonian.
Furthermore, the project sought to promote student activism by improving the dissemination of information about students'' rights and responsibilities. By directly providing students with relevant knowledge, the initiative aimed to empower them in their daily lives and strengthen their engagement in student advocacy.
To identify information needs of university students and gather feedback to improve the Tarktudeng.ee platform EÜL conducted a two-phase survey among high school students. This research helped EÜL understand the general informational gaps regarding higher education and provided valuable insights into how the platform could be developed further.
EÜL also produced several podcasts throughout the two-year period, including discussions on higher education with major political parties and an analysis of coalition agreements. These podcasts played an essential role in informing students and raising awareness about political engagement.
The organization participated in student fairs such as the “Ole Rohkem” and “TalTech Student Life” fairs, where they promoted the Tarktudeng.ee portal and distributed various promotional materials.
EÜL also contributed to the strengthening of the student quality network. The activities included events like workshops and meetings that empowered student representatives and encouraged their involvement in analyzing and improving the quality of higher education.
Furthermore, the Tarktudeng.ee platform was continuously developed, with new features like English translations, a chatbot, a student quiz, and contact details for student unions. Feedback from both students and high schoolers was used to guide future improvements to the platform.
These activities collectively aimed to enhance democratic participation, increase civic responsibility, and improve students'' access to essential educational resources and information.
The 2-year organizational grant can be considered effective as the objectives set were achieved. EÜL conducted a survey among students, which included five focus group interviews and an online survey using a snowball sampling method. The survey received responses from 89 students in Estonian and 9 students in English. Although the initial target for the number of respondents was 100, the core goal of gathering sufficient input for the creation of Tarktudeng.ee was achieved. Additionally, a survey was conducted among high school students, with 3 interviews and 72 survey responses, to ensure there was enough information to develop the platform further after the project.
EÜL launched the student rights portal Tarktudeng.ee, which consolidates up-to-date information for all students studying in Estonia and answers the most frequently asked questions about the Estonian higher education system. They also created a glossary page for the most common terms in higher education, which has been visited by at least 1,000 people. Initially, the plan was to create only one subpage, but the information was expanded into multiple subpages covering topics such as training, podcasts, rights, quizzes, key concepts, and a chatbot. These subpages received more than 1,000 visits in 2023.
EÜL created the podcast "Tark Üliõpilane," which was listened to nearly four times more than initially planned. While it was expected to have 150 listens at the start, it received 579 listens. In total, 18 podcast episodes were produced during the two years of the project, and in the first months of 2024, 4 new episodes were already released. This indicates that the activity has become established and will continue even after the project ends.
EÜL participated in both years of the project in the "Ole Rohkem" student fair and the "TalTech Student Life" fair. Additionally, physical advertising was carried out through Zeblox notebooks and street campaigns. In addition to the initial goals, the project also revived and integrated the student quality network into the Tarktudeng.ee platform.