Ida-Virumaa Vocational Education Center (IVKHK) has cut six Estonian language teaching positions amid falling enrollment and a push for additional state funding.
IVKHK principal Hendrik Agur told regional newspaper Põhjarannik that the cuts reflect both a reduction in intensive Estonian language studies and a drop in student numbers.
The school had 1,756 students this fall, down nearly 15 percent from 2,063 a year earlier.
Agur attributed the decline largely to lower adult enrollment in IVKHK's vocational programs, suggesting that some prospective students among the area's Russian-speakers had been put off by the switch in language.
He launched the school's transition to Estonian-language instruction last year, ending the "60/40" model of partially Russian-language instruction in continuing education as of this fall.
"The message about the school's shift to Estonian-language instruction has probably reached people in Ida-Viru County's Russian-speaking community who have been opposed to the change," Agur said.
The principal expects the trend to ease, saying resistance to the language shift should no longer drive further declines in enrollment.
In January, ERR reported that IVKHK was hiring Estonian language teachers to prepare 700 to 800 students to study in Estonian.
The vocational school runs locations in Jõhvi, Sillamäe and Narva.
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