Estonia is an Eastern European country between Latvia and Russia, bordering the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Finland. It is a high-income country of approximately 1.2 million people.

Estonia had been under centuries of Danish, Swedish, German and Russian rule when it gained independence in 1918, only to be forced into the USSR in 1940. The country regained its current independence in 1991.

Estonian Education System

Education in Estonia is comprehensive and compulsory through grade 9, although a reform is being prepared to extend compulsory education to the age of 18, to be implemented from the school year 2025-26, which will bring the country in line with other OECD countries. Preschool begins at 18 months and basic education at age 7. Students with special needs are mainstreamed in regular classes. School is free, including lunch, textbooks, transportation and necessary support services.

After completing their primary education, students can continue to general secondary education or to secondary vocational school. Completion of secondary education allows students to pursue a preprofessional higher educational institution or vocational education, although students who have completed a vocational secondary school can only advance to vocational education.

PISA 2022 (Program for International Student Assessment) ranked Estonian students at the top in Europe and in the top eight in the world. Among European countries, Estonia was 1st-2nd in math with Switzerland, 1st in science, and 1st-2nd in reading with Ireland. 

Estonia’s Educational Leap into Technology

Tiger Leap: After returning to independence in 1991, Estonia initiated the modernization of its education system. Underlying this move was the belief that information technology should be used for the benefit of social development. Tiger Leap was launched in 1996 by three key people: Lennart Meri, President of Estonia; Jaak Aaviksoo, Minister of Education; and Toomas Hendrik Ilves, then ambassador to the U.S. and later president of Estonia. Tiger Leap stood on three pillars: (1) computers and the internet, (2) basic teacher training and (3) native-language electronic courseware for general education institutions. By 2000, all Estonian schools had computers and by 2001, all were connected to the internet. Local funds supported this leap, matched by the Tiger Leap Foundation. In the initial year of 1997, 4,000 teachers received training, followed by thousands more in subsequent years.

Later programs included Tiger Leap Plus, ProgeTiger and IT Academy. Tiger Leap Plus focused on competencies needed for information and communications technologies. The ProgeTiger and IT Academy programs launched in 2012. ProgeTiger focused on the technological literacy and digital competence of teachers and students. IT Academy was a cooperation and development program among the state, ICT sector companies and universities, to increase the number of ICT professionals.

AI Leap 2025: AI Leap 2025 is Estonia’s move to incorporate cutting-edge artificial intelligence applications into its education system. Estonia believes it is the first, or one of the first countries to introduce AI into the entire nationwide education system at one time, rather than piecemeal, in specific schools or regions, as has been done elsewhere. The long-term goal of the AI leap is more efficient, personalized, diverse and inclusive teaching. Says Slim Sikkut, a member of Estonian President Alar Karis’s Digital Council and former Government CIO of Estonia, “We also want to reduce the digital technology divide and prevent a new divide between those who are AI savvy and those who are not.”

Initially, 20,000 10th and 11th grade high school students will get access to AI apps, and 3,000 teachers will receive training on how best to use them. The goal is for students to build a skillset that will allow them to remain competitive at personal, company, and national levels. President Karis initiated AI Leap 2025, with the participation of various entrepreneurs and the Ministry of Education and is funded jointly by the government and the private sector. Teacher training is scheduled to begin in fall 2025. Teachers, students, academics, businesses and community members have formed working groups to define target competencies, curricula, tools and training programs.

A Strategy for the Future

Estonia’s technology education programs are one aspect of Estonia’s Education Development Plan 2021-2035, to enhance the “digital and entrepreneurial competencies of learners and educators.” Combined with the plan’s goals of high-quality and inclusive education for all, lifelong learning and innovation, the technology leaps should support the ultimate goal of the well-being and development of learners and educators. 

– Staff Reports

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