Nearly 14,700 children start first grade in Estonia this year
The new school year has begun in Estonia, with almost 14,700 children entering first grade and about 160,000 pupils overall in general schools. Education Minister Kristina Kallas urged students and teachers to embrace curiosity and creativity.
The new school year started in Estonia on September 1, with roughly 160,000 pupils enrolled in general education schools this year, including nearly 14,700 first-graders. More than 26,000 students are starting studies at vocational schools, while universities have over 47,000 students.
In the capital Tallinn, municipal general schools are expected to enroll about 45,700 pupils this school year, including around 3,600 first-graders. Exact figures will be confirmed by September 10, once schools enter their data into the EHIS education information system. Tallinn has 60 municipal schools and one vocational school. Municipal kindergartens in the capital will care for fewer than 17,000 children in the 2026/2027 school year, with 115 kindergartens operating from September 1 alongside preschool groups at two additional schools.
Minister's greeting
Education and Research Minister Kristina Kallas said in her address that September 1 is one of the few days when life across Estonia seems to start with a clean slate — some children go to school for the first time, others for the last, some adults stand in front of a class as teachers for the first time, and some parents discover in the first week that their math skills are rustier than they thought.
Kallas also touched on artificial intelligence, noting that in an era when AI can write essays and solve equations in seconds, one might wonder why learning still matters. She suggested the better question is what becomes valuable once answers become cheap: independent thinking, the ability to recognize when a machine is wrong, creativity, deeper understanding, empathy for others, and the courage to admit not knowing something yet while wanting to learn it.
The minister wished students curiosity and a touch of mischief in their thinking for the new school year, encouraging them not to always accept the first answer given. To teachers, she wished creativity and patience, noting that the best learning often happens when a lesson doesn't go exactly as planned.
