From the Võru County Vocational Education Center to EWERS
Life is constantly changing. It always has been. One hundred years ago, the Väimela Agricultural School began operating at the Väimela Manor, where students were woken up at 4 a.m. to be led to the cattle barn and the fields. Today, our students can be found in modern laboratories, machine shops, and teaching kitchens.
These changes are also reflected in the school’s name. There are alumni who fondly look back on the Väimela Model Agricultural Technical School, the Võru Industrial Technical School, the Võru Adult High School, or, as it is now known, the Võru County Vocational Education Center. Each name marks its own era of establishment, growth, merger, or progress. 2023. In the fall of that year, we took another step forward. The name “Võru County Vocational Education Center”—which had been adopted 24 years ago when two vocational schools merged—had become too restrictive for us.
There are several reasons for this. First, in 2020, adult general education students joined us. Whereas previously their educational path led them to the Võru Adult High School, as of 2020 they have become part of the Võru County Vocational Education Center’s school community.
General education students make up a good quarter of our student body. Second, for more than 10 years now, our school has been home to TSENTER, a woodworking competence center whose goal is to support entrepreneurship in the field through knowledge and technology, playing a significant role in promoting regional development.
Finally, in addition to students in vocational and general education, we offer more than half a thousand people each year the opportunity to further their education through various training programs, and we collaborate with general education, vocational, and higher education institutions.
Today, we have entered a new era and are pleased to welcome you to the Võru County Education and Technology Center. In addition to its full name, the Võru County Education and Technology Center will also be known by the acronym EWERS starting today.
