Today, March 30th the senate of the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre gathered via video to discuss the possible scenarios on how to continue academic activities under special circumstances and decided to change the academic calendar of the 2019/2020 school year.

The senate decided to postpone the end of the semester by four weeks (July 19th) by declaring an extraordinary study break for four weeks from April 6th until May 3rd. The graduation ceremony this year is planned to take place on 4PM July 18th in the great hall of the EAMT concert and performance centre.

Upon making the decisions the senate took into account the progress of the global situation, current experiences in distance learning and the specifics of the subjects taught at the academy. “Distance learning is officially established in all universities and thanks to the openness of students as well as the adaptability and creativity of many teaching staff members, has been successfully set up at the academy, too. However, with many subjects, especially subjects that carry a highly practical approach, unexpected distance learning practices are not very effective, if not impossible to carry out successfully,” explains Margus Pärtlas, the Vice Rector of Academic Affairs and Research.

“At the moment we can’t be sure how long these circumstances under the national emergency situation will continue, but if we want to obtain the quality of the studies, we need to make decisions regarding the rest of the school year right now,” Pärtlas adds.

The senate of the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre is an academic governance organ that is responsible for research, development, creative and academic activities at the academy. The chairman of the senate is the rector of the academy and the senate consists of members of the rectorate, heads of different academic fields and managerial units, as well as student representatives.