Former Estonian education ministers: too many simultaneous reforms overload schools
Former Estonian education ministers say several major reforms running at once — including a new mandatory education requirement up to age 18 — are overloading schools and teachers. The current minister responds that the reforms did not create the problems but exposed them.
Since this school year, Estonia has enforced an extended compulsory education requirement: after basic school, young people must continue studying until age 18, whether in a gymnasium, vocational school, or preparatory program. The first year already revealed problems — by late summer, hundreds of basic school graduates still had no place to continue studying, and a new admissions system called SAIS added further difficulties.
Former education minister Liina Kersna said the number of study places had been significantly increased this year in both applied colleges and preparatory programs, but the main lesson from the reform's first year is that more spots specifically for preparatory training are still needed, something she expects to be addressed next year. The opposition Centre Party has blamed current education minister Kristina Kallas for the problems and demanded her resignation. Kallas disagrees, arguing the new system did not create the problem but made an existing one visible — previously, students who finished nine years of Estonian schooling without knowing Estonian and unable to continue their education simply disappeared from the records.
Multiple reforms at once
Former ministers note that up to eight major reforms are underway simultaneously in education, and the problem lies not in the changes themselves but in the system's inability to absorb them all at once. Former minister Jaak Aaviksoo said it might have been better to roll out reforms sequentially rather than all together, and pointed out that no additional funding was allocated despite the growing scope of education.
At the school level, people remain a key resource. Kallas noted that before the shift to Estonian-language instruction, schools had about 1,800 staff who did not meet Estonian language requirements; now only 144 remain, according to local governments. Former ministers warn of a shortage of qualified subject teachers and the risk that students struggling due to language issues could be wrongly classified as having special needs.
Natalia Malitsina, head of Tallinn's methodology and competence centre, highlighted the heavy workload teachers are carrying, while former minister Mailis Reps called for restoring more autonomy to schools and reducing bureaucratic requirements.
