Estonian Educational Landscape
The Estonian educational system covers pre-school education, basic education, upper-secondary, vocational, higher and adult education. Some schools are funded by private capital, although the majority of schools are funded by the state or local governments.
The education system is divided into the following parts:
- Pre-school education
- Primary education
- Secondary education
- Vocational education
- Higher education
- Adult education
The principal objective of Estonia's educational system is to develop Estonian society into an open learning society, where every person is a life long learner.
The Education Act, adopted in 1992, states the following as the general goals of education: to create favourable conditions for the development of personality, family and the Estonian nation; to promote the development of ethnic minorities, economic, political and cultural life in Estonia and the preservation of nature in the global economic and cultural context; to teach the values of citizenship; and to set up the prerequisites for creating a tradition of life long learning nation-wide.
The most relevant trend in recent years has been the growth in the number of students pursuing higher education due to the large share (over 50%) of students paying directly for their studies.
Number of Students by educational level
| 2003/ 2004 | 2004/ 2005 | 2005/ 2006 | 2006/ 2007 | 2007/ 2008 | |
| Basic education | 156 970 | 147 172 | 137 092 | 127 899 | 121 405 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Secondary education | 35 600 | 36 779 | 36 730 | 36 125 | 33 666 |
| Vocational education on the basis of basic educ. | 17396 | 19 153 | 18 912 | 19 173 | 18 454 |
| Vocational education on the basis of secondary educ. | 10 787 | 10 762 | 10 101 | 9 478 | 8 620 |
| Higher education | 65 659 | 67 760 | 68 287 | 68 767 | 68 168 |
Source: The Ministry of Education and Research
PRE-SCHOOL EDUCATION
The state and local governments are responsible for children’s education and studies in pre-school institutions. Pre-school education is acquired at a child care institution or at home. Child care institutions are: crèches – for children of up to 3 years of age; nursery schools – for children of up to 7 years of age; nursery school for children with special needs – for children with special needs who are of up to 7 years of age. A nursery school may be combined with a primary school. A rural municipality or city government shall provide all children permanently residing in their administrative territory whose parents so wish with the opportunity to attend a child care institution in the catchment area. Participation in child care institution is voluntary; a child may start school straight from home as well.
Basic schools and upper secondary schools in Estonia are comprehensive schools in which each subsequent academic year (year) is based directly on the previous one and which allows smooth transfer from one school to another.
BASIC EDUCATION
Compulsory school attendance generally begins at the age of 7 and lasts until they acquire basic education or attain 17 years of age. Basic education is acquired in lower secondary schools, or in secondary schools and covers the grades 1-9. Basic education is funded by the state and the local government. The school year lasts for 175 days and including holidays, it lasts from September 1st until June.
In lower secondary and secondary schools, there is a uniform grading system with a range from one to five, where "5" represents the best result and "1" the worst result.
For children with special needs compulsory school attendance may be fulfilled in special educational institutions or at mainstream schools.
Children of foreign citizens or stateless people who are residents of Estonia must fulfil the requirement of compulsory school attendance, except the children of representatives of foreign countries.
SECONDARY EDUCATION
Secondary education is a level of education which is based on basic education. Secondary education is divided into general secondary education and vocational secondary education. The acquisition of secondary education is necessary criteria for continuing studies in institutions of higher education.
In order to complete a general upper-secondary education, a three-year study period has to be concluded. Like basic education, secondary education is funded by the state and the local government.
The number of private general schools has increased after regaining of independence. The state curriculum requirements are compulsory for all schools. In addition to these requirements, schools can teach extracurricular subjects or teach curricular subjects intensively. A student must pass at least three state examinations in addition to school examinations, in order to receive a general secondary education certificate.
In the academic year 2007/2008 there are 82 primary schools, 261 basic schools, 230 schools providing general secondary education and 16 general upper secondary schools for adults – 589 schools in all.
VOCATIONAL EDUCATION
The main emphasis in vocational education lies in acquiring professional skills and practical experience. Vocational schools are primarily funded by the state.
Vocational education may be acquired either after graduation from basic school or after graduation from upper secondary school. Since 2006 it can also be acquired by people who have not obtained the basic education. Studies according to the secondary vocational education curricula on the basis of basic education last minimum 3 years. The duration of studies according to the secondary vocational education curricula on the basis of secondary education is from 1 to 2.5 years.
In the academic year 2007/2008 there are 47 vocational schools in Estonia, 12 of which are private. The network of vocational schools has been reorganised over the last 10 years. Several small vocational schools have been merged in regions to become regional vocational education centres.
Students can acquire either vocational secondary or vocational post-secondary non-tertiary educations in vocational education institutions. In 2000, the Estonian Parliament passed the Act of Recognition of Foreign Professional Qualifications.
HIGHER EDUCATION
The provision of higher education in Estonia began in 1632, with the establishment of the University of Tartu. Today, it is once again an internationally recognised university. In the academic year 2007/2008 there are 35 higher education institutions in Estonia of which 17 are based on private capital. There are 11 universities, including 5 private universities; 21 institutions of professional higher education; 3 vocational schools offering higher education programs.
Higher education may be acquired as professional higher education or academic higher education. All persons with secondary education or foreign qualifications equal thereto have an equal right to compete to be admitted to higher education studies.
Professional higher education is provided in institutions of professional higher education or at universities’ colleges. Some vocational schools also offer professional higher education programs. The standard period of study in professional higher education is three to four and a half years (120–180 national credit points, 1 national credit point equals to 1.5 ECTS). A person who has acquired professional higher education has the right to continue his or her studies in Master's study according to the conditions and pursuant to the procedure established by the board of the educational institution.
At a university, higher education can be acquired at three levels: Bachelor's Study, Master's study and Doctoral study. The standard period of Bachelor's study is three to four years, 120–160 credit points, Master's study one to two years, 40–80 credit points and Doctoral study three to four years, 120-160 credit points. The standard period of Bachelor and Master's study is at least five years in total. Medical training, veterinary training, pharmacist training, dentistry training, architectural studies, civil engineering studies and teacher training are based on integrated curricula of Bachelor and Master's study, the standard period of which is five to six years or 200-240 national credit points. Bachelor's study and Master's study end with the taking of a degree examination or the defence of a thesis. Doctoral study ends with the defence of a doctoral thesis.
The diplomas of accredited Estonian higher education institutions are recognised abroad. In order to evaluate the quality of post-secondary education institutions (accrediting), a separate institution has been established that coordinates evaluation visits of foreign experts.
Estonia was a signatory country for Bologna declaration in 1999 and has actively implemented most of its' core instruments. Development strategy for higher education was approved by the Estonian Parliament in November 2006 in order to enhance the capacity for sustainable development of diverse Estonian language higher education. Keywords: quality assurance, internationalisation, doctoral studies.
In addition to academic studies, research is also carried out intensively at higher education institutions. Estonia has achieved world-class results in pharmacology-toxicology, environmental sciences, material technology, biomedicine, and semiotics.
HOBBY EDUCATION
The state and local governments help to organise hobby education outside of schools. Parliament passed in 2006 the Hobby Schools Act that legalises the activities of sports, music, arts and creative school centres. There is a network of sports, music and art schools throughout Estonia, where pupils can pursue their hobbies with support from the state budget.
ADULT EDUCATION
Adult Education Act passed in 1993 provides the bases for adult education and training and the legal guarantees for adults to be able to access the learning they desire during their lifetime. Depending on its objectives, education is, one of the following: formal education acquired within the adult education system; professional education and training; informal education.
The strategy for lifelong learning 2005-2008 aims to create possibilities for lifelong learning of adult population throughout their lives and help to raise the competition abilities of Estonian society and enterprises. The participation of adults in life-long learning programs has been more active for people with higher qualifications. Overall participation rate among population 25-64 was 7% in 2007.