Pädevusel

Pädevusel is the adessive singular form of the Estonian noun pädevus, which translates roughly as competence, capability or authority depending on context. In linguistic terms, pädevusel marks a location, domain or state related to pädevus and is used in formal texts to express concepts such as being “on the basis of” or “within the scope of” competence. The form is created by adding the adessive ending -l to the stem pädevus, yielding pädevusel.

In usage, pädevusel appears in phrases that relate to competence in practice. For example, pädevusel põhinev hindamine refers to assessment based on competence, and phrases like institutsiooni pädevus or organisatsiooni pädevusalone describe the competence or the scope of authority of an institution or organization. The exact meaning is determined by the surrounding words and the case system, not by a standalone semantic change to pädevus.

The concept pädevus is central in Estonian education and public administration. It is commonly used to describe the outcomes of learning and performance in real-world tasks, encompassing knowledge, skills and attitudes. Pädevuspõhine õpe (competence-based learning) and pädevuse kirjeldused (descriptions of competences) are standard terms in curricula and assessment frameworks. Related terms include oskus (skill) and kompetents (borrowed from other languages); pädevus is often positioned as a holistic notion of what a person can do in practice.

See also: pädevus, oskus, kompetents.