About a thousand Estonian ninth-grade graduates still without a school place
A week before the start of the school year, roughly a thousand basic-school graduates in Estonia still have no place to continue their education, with the worst situation in Tallinn, where about 750 students remain unplaced. The Education Ministry says the reform's full effect can only be assessed years from now.
This year Estonia introduced a requirement for all ninth-grade graduates to continue their education, but a regular gymnasium or vocational school is not a suitable option for every teenager. A week before September 1, around a thousand students nationwide still have not found an appropriate place to continue studying, with the most difficult situation in the capital, where about 750 upper-secondary-age young people remain without a school place.
One Tallinn family had to look for an alternative after realizing their child, who had never been interested in studying, would not be accepted into a regular gymnasium or a good vocational school. The family found that the Kohtla-Järve gymnasium for adults offers online study, which the mother described as essentially the only option available. She also said she believes teenagers should be given more freedom to choose their own path after ninth grade, since most will likely stop studying anyway once they turn 18.
According to Tallinn city government data, 761 students are still without a place to continue their studies. After September 10, specialists from the Education Department and the Social Welfare Department will join the effort to find solutions. Tallinn deputy mayor Andrei Kante said that at least a project-based expansion of staff is needed to handle the issue, since current officials are already overloaded and cannot manage it alone. He called the reform necessary and important, but insufficiently thought through.
The Education Ministry acknowledges that it is impossible to fully eliminate, in the reform's very first year, the number of teenagers who do not continue their education — the goal instead is to reduce their share to five percent, with the process expected to take years. Külli Solo, who heads the ministry's compulsory-education project, said the reform's actual impact will only be properly assessed around 2035, but noted that local governments are already working this autumn to ensure every child finds a place to study. For those unsuited to a standard continuation of education, preparatory training is offered as a last-resort option; the ministry has ordered 600 such places across Estonia.
