# Education in Estonia

#### Education in Estonia Contents:

The history of formal education in Estonia dates back to the 13–14th centuries when the first monastic and cathedral schools were founded. The first primer in the Estonian language was published in 1575. The oldest university is the University of Tartu, founded in 1632. In 1919, university courses were first taught in the Estonian language. The standard of education of the Estonian people is high. In 1995, 16 per cent of Estonians between the ages of 24 and 33 had graduated from institutions of higher education, 27 per cent from professional secondary schools and 44 per cent from secondary schools (vocational education included).

Fundamental principles The Constitution (§ 37) states that “everybody has the right to an education. Attending school is compulsory for all school-age children to the extent established by law, and is free in general education schools established by state and local governments. In order to make education accessible, state and local governments are financially responsible for maintaining the necessary number of educational institutions. The law allows the establishment and operation of other types of educational institutions, including private schools.

The choice of education for children rests largely with parents. Everybody has the right to an education in the Estonian language. In an educational institution in which minority students predominate, the language is chosen by the educational institution. Education is under the supervision of the state. These constitutional principles form the basis for legislation concerning educational problems. The most general law regulating education is the Education Act passed in 1992. Since then, different laws have been passed regarding each type of educational establishment. All laws dealing with educational matters have been amended after their passage.

This process of renewing the legal acts derives from various circumstances. After the restoration of Estonia’s independence, the laws regulating educational life were passed rather quickly, and on several occasions not all the circumstances were taken into account. In early 1998, a number of fundamental documents concerning the aims and developmental problems of education were prepared: Studying Estonia, Estonian Education Strategy, , Educational Scenarios etc. These proposals form the basis for a unified conception of development. The government has set up a special commission to reconcile the different viewpoints in these proposals. The document currently in preparation, will guarantee the further development of education at the state level.

#### The Education Act has established that “the objective of education is:

  * creating favourable conditions for the development of individuals, family, the Estonian nation, national minorities and Estonian economic, political and cultural life in the context of the world economy and culture;
  * developing a law-abiding citizenry;
  * providing conditions for continuing education.”



A wide network of schools and supporting educational institutions has been established.

#### The Estonian educational system consists of state, municipal, public and private educational institutions:

  * preschool children’s institutions
  * kindergarten-primary schools
  * primary schools
  * basic schools
  * secondary schools (gümnaasium)
  * vocational educational institutions
  * professional higher schools
  * universities
  * further education institutions
  * hobby schools and other educational institutions.



#### The Education Act states that in accordance with the UNESCO international standard of education classification, education has the following levels:

  * preprimary education
  * basic education
  * secondary education
  * higher education.



Each level has its established requirements which are called the state educational standards and are presented together with state curricula. The curricula contain the mandatory study programmes, time scheduled to cover the programmes, and descriptions of compulsory knowledge, skills, experience and behavioural norms.

#### Preprimary education

Preprimary education teaches the child how to cope at school and in life. A child’s preprimary education is the responsibility of parents, who are supported by local governments maintaining the preschool institutions for children. In 1998, there were 667 preschool institutions in Estonia, and 59 313 children attending them. Preparatory groups for preschool children function at 66 schools of general education for more than one thousand children.

#### Basic education

Basic education is established by a national curriculum of basic and secondary education. On the basis of the national curriculum, schools compile their own curricula. Basic education covers grades one to nine. Basic education in Estonia is compulsory. According to the Education Act, every child reaching seven years of age on 1 October must attend school until basic education is acquired or until he or she is 17 years old. Basic education is mainly taught at municipal schools (basic school classes at primary, basic and secondary schools). Local governments determine a service area for each school where it is obliged to guarantee all school-age children the opportunity to study. In exceptional cases, basic education can also be acquired at home. Besides day school, basic education can be obtained in evening schools (grades 5–9). This option is chosen by more than 1000 young persons annually. For children with physical, speech, sensory or mental handicaps, and children with special needs, the state or local governments (depending on the governing authority) provide opportunities at special schools and classes. Estonia has 7 sanatorium schools (6 state and 1 municipal schools) for approximately 800 children. These schools follow the curriculum of basic education.

The basic school curriculum has developed a support system for intellectually handicapped children. This forms the basis for special classes which function at 18 schools. Simplified basic school curricula are currently being used by 27 schools and 28 classes at secondary schools and basic schools. The idea of placing handicapped children in normal schools is rapidly gaining ground. At basic and secondary schools the marking system ranges from one to five. ‘5’ is ‘very good’, ‘4’ is ‘good’, ‘3’ is ‘satisfactory’, ‘2’ ‘unsatisfactory’ and ‘1’ ‘failure’. Universities and private schools of higher education often use their own marking systems. Since this has sometimes caused confusion, various measures are being planned in order to unify the evaluation systems of different educational institutions.

#### Secondary education

Secondary education is voluntary and free at state and municipal educational institutions. General secondary education is acquired at upper-secondary schools (gümnaasium, grades 10-12), and vocational education at vocational education institutions. Secondary education is governed by a national curriculum of basic and secondary education (general secondary education) or by a national vocational education curriculum and national curricula of vocations (vocational secondary education). Secondary education can also be acquired at evening and distance schools, although the number of students is continually decreasing. In 1997, 95.2 % of those who graduated from day basic school went on to secondary schools; 70 % of them to upper-secondary schools (gümnaasium); and 25.2 % to vocational schools. Of the secondary schools, 227 are municipal schools, 3 are state gümnaasium and 6 are private.

The state gümnaasium include: the Tallinn Music School, the Noarootsi Gümnaasium, specialising in Swedish language and culture, and the Nõo Reaalgümnaasium where students have extra lessons in aviation, mathematics and computer studies. In order to continue studies at a higher educational institution, everybody has to pass the state exams which are organised by the Exam and Qualification Centre at the Ministry of Education. Exam materials are compiled by a special commission. Members of the admissions commissions do not belong to school. The subjects, form and time of the state examinations are determined by the Minister of Education by 25 May of each year. An upper-secondary school graduate must pass five graduation exams, at least two of them being state exams. An essay in the Estonian language is compulsory for all. The student chooses state exams according to his plans for higher education and the desired area of study at university or a professional higher school. The student can take all graduation exams as state exams. The graduate of a secondary school receives a diploma and certificates of the state exams. Some universities and professional higher schools accept students on the basis of the state exam results, while others require additional tests.

#### Vocational education

The first vocational schools in Estonia were established in the early 19th century. Vocational schools offer vocational education in vocational, special and professional areas, on the basis of the school’s curriculum and in accordance with the national curriculum. The duration of studies for those who have acquired basic education is at least three years and for those who have secondary education at least a year. Students with basic education complete subjects of general education within 50 study weeks. National curricula establish the tasks of vocational, special and professional schooling, general and standard requirements for starting and finishing studies, a list of compulsory subjects and the general range of the study programme. In order to co-ordinate the requirements of both society and the labour market, the government establishes vocational councils of employers and employees. The government determines the number, membership and mandate of these councils. In 1998 there were 13 vocational councils in Estonia. Secondary vocational education can be acquired at vocational schools, of which 75 are state schools, 4 are municipal schools and 10 are private schools. The vocational school graduates are entitled to sit for state exams and can therefore continue studies at a university or at a professional higher school.

#### Higher education

Higher education is divided into vocational higher education, education with diploma, Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree and Doctor’s degree studies. Vocational higher education is acquired only at a vocational educational institution which functions on the basis of secondary education, or at a professional higher school. Academic education consists of three levels, attained within a period of 4 to 10 years (4 years for Bachelor’s degree, 2 additional years for Master’s degree and 4 for Doctor’s degree). The requirements set for higher education have been determined by the general standards of higher education; the state has established a system of accreditation. Some curricula have been assessed by international commissions. In April 1997 in Lisbon, the minister of education signed the UNESCO and the European Union joint convention on mutual recognition of diplomas in the European region. In October 1997 Estonia had six public law universities with a total of 22 231 students and eight state professional higher schools with 3285 students. The public law universities have far greater decisive autonomy than the state professional higher schools. The status of a public law university has been given to the University of Tartu, the Tallinn Technical University, the Tallinn Pedagogical University, the Estonian Agricultural University, the Estonian Music Academy and the Estonian Academy of Arts.

#### Private schools

At present, 28 private schools of general education are functioning in Estonia, 10 of them being primary schools, 11 basic schools, and 6 upper-secondary schools (gümnaasium). By 10 September 1997 the private schools of general education had 2676 students or 1.3 % of the total number of students at schools of general education. Local governments help to cover the costs of teachers’ salaries and study aids. Parents are responsible for school maintenance. At the beginning of the 1998/99 school year, there were 18 private institutions of higher education, six among them offering degree studies. On 1 October 1997 they had 7818 students.

The total number of students in Estonia at that time was 34 542, thus the private schools had 22.6 % of the students. In recent years, the share of students at private institutions of higher education has been steadily growing. The main subjects taught at private institutions of higher education are the following: economy and business studies, law and theology, and to a lesser extent the humanities. With the help of foreign experts, the process of accreditation of Estonian institutions of higher education has already started. This should solve the problem of state recognition of diplomas issued by the private institutions of higher education. The state has so far given practically no financial help to the private educational institutions. A few schools have received some support for specific projects, but the sums involved have been modest. Non-Estonian language education The law on basic, secondary and vocational education states that the working language should be Estonian, but it could also be some other language. In municipal schools the decision is made by a local government council, and in state schools by the Ministry of Education.

The language of a pre-primary institution is determined by a local government council, and each group must have one language. In an educational institution, some classes or groups may have another language. These institutions are thus bilingual. In 1997/98, 596 schools out of the total 730 were Estonian, 111 Russian and 23 both Estonian and Russian. There were 151 478 Estonian-language students at the day basic and upper-secondary schools, and 66 023 Russian-language students. At vocational secondary schools, one third study in Russian, at higher educational institutions the per cent of Russian-speakers is 14. In 1990, the Russian-language Jewish School was founded in Tallinn; in 1992 a class in the Ukrainian language started work at one of the Tallinn schools (48th secondary school).

There are Sunday schools and language courses at the cultural societies of national minorities, teaching their mother tongue, culture and history. Some schools of general education that have specialised in teaching various languages, have extra lessons in English, German, French or Russian. The present Russian-language schools are the successors of schools established in Estonia during the Soviet period. These schools followed the all-Union curricula and used the textbooks meant for the whole Soviet Union. A major task in reforming the education system is the integration of Russian-language schools into the unified Estonian educational system under which all would follow the Estonian curricula, use Estonian textbooks and provide students with the level of Estonian necessary for coping in our society. The law on basic and secondary schools states that by the year 2007, all graduates from non-Estonian language basic schools should have sufficient knowledge of Estonian to enable them to continue their studies in the Estonian language. To ensure the fulfilment of this law, the government confirmed the plan of development of non-Estonian language schools in January 1998, and the plan pays special attention to teaching Estonian.

The 1998 state budget has considerably increased resources for further education of non-Estonian speaking teachers, especially of those who teach Estonian. Many foreign countries are of great help in this field. Hobby education Besides ordinary educational institutions there are various others in Estonia where knowledge, skills and values are taught which provide people with additional qualities to develop their personalities. The list of schools providing hobby education is fairly long, including state, municipal and private schools. Hobby educational institutions include schools of music, and the arts (music, art and dance) and they have approximately 10 000 young people. Municipal and private sport schools have 24 000 young people who can choose among 40 fields of sport. The state budget partly finances the state hobby schools while municipal hobby schools receive their resources from local government budgets. Extra sources of income are study fees, and support from various foundations, donations, services, etc.

#### Adult education

Adult education is regulated by a law, passed in 1993 and supplemented in 1998, which determines the duties of the state and local governments and of employers in creating necessary conditions for adult education, and prescribing financing principles. The state budget supports further education courses for teachers and civil servants, research work on adult education, the activities of popular education institutions and education for the unemployed. The 1993 Income Tax Act established concessions for employers who had spent money on employees’ education, and for individuals spending money on education. Practically every vocational education institution and higher school offers adult education. There are numerous private-initiative adult educational institutions. Research completed in 1995 demonstrated that approximately 15 % of the adult population participated in adult education, and in 1997 this rose to 25 %.

#### Funding of the educational system

Education is funded by the state and local governments, as well as legal entities and individuals. The state finances an educational institution according to the number of students. Basic and secondary education is free of charge to the extent determined by national curricula. To cover any extra costs (e.g. additional textbooks, study materials, dividing the class into groups, etc.), the schools are advised to turn to private capital. As for municipal schools, the state budget covers the costs of teachers’ salaries and administrative staff and educational expenses. The school maintenance costs must be covered by the local government budget. The public universities and state professional higher schools are fully funded by the state budget. The schools can find additional sources of income elsewhere. The basis for funding is the number of students which is multiplied by a coefficient according to the specialty and level of education. The public universities are somewhat freer in spending money than professional higher schools. The number of places at school to be funded by the state budget is commissioned by state. Higher schools have the right to accept fee-paying students. Private schools of higher education also charge fees. All university and vocational school students who have graduated from secondary schools are entitled to a study loan at 5 % annual interest. The loan is paid out twice a year. Repayment begins one year after graduation. The proportion of educational expenditure in the state budget over the last five years has been more or less stable: 1993 - 16.5; 1994 - 15.8; 1995 - 16.4; 1996 - 16.7; 1997 - 16.8 per cent.

#### The average proportions of different types of education covered by the state budget in recent years have been as follows:

  * funding municipal schools (teachers’ salaries and textbooks) - 15.8 %
  * support for public universities - 21.9 %
  * state professional higher schools - 10.4 %
  * vocational education institutions - 11.7 %
  * state schools - 11.8 %



Computerising the schools In 1996, Estonia initiated a programme of computerisation in the educational system called ‘Tiger Leap’. General aims of the programme are to provide teachers with computer skills and to train upper grade students to become assistant computer teachers, to create a structure of distance schools and continuous education for teachers and students and to connect the Estonian educational system with an international information database. Another aim of the programme is to start producing Estonian language multimedia study software, introducing the most widely-used educational software in the world and translating it into Estonian. With the help of PHARE ISE programme it is planned to establish a local computer centre in every county. The programme is primarily focused on general education, including preprimary, vocational and higher education, and continuing education for teachers.

By the end of 1997, about half of the secondary and vocational schools had access to Internet. Twenty five schools had direct access to Internet. The realisation of the programme is evident in the share of state budget allocated to buy information technology, which by 1998 was 15 times larger than in 1992.

#### Estonian Educational Forum

The Educational Forum as the representative council of educational policy interest groups, takes place once a year. According to its statute its objective is to further the principles of participatory democracy, partnership and social agreement in Estonian educational policy. In 1997 and 1998 the following topics were discussed: social and regional aspects of the accessibility of education, quality of education and the labour market, minority language education in Estonia, children and parents, educational scenarios and principles, education and the economy, the content and quality of education, the health of children (schoolchildren/students).