Estonian education minister: teachers and parents' responsibilities for children have become unbalanced

Estonia's Education and Research Minister Kristina Kallas said on Raadio 2's morning show that the balance between parental and teacher responsibility for raising children has become skewed, not just in Estonia but across Western society generally. She noted that responsibility for a child's upbringing should be shared among parents, teachers, local government specialists and support services, but currently most of that burden falls on teachers.

Kallas explained that teachers today are expected to monitor whether children sleep enough, eat properly, exercise, avoid excessive social media and gaming, and bring the right school supplies and gym clothes. She contrasted this with her own school years, when parents were called in to address such issues. Now, she said, schools and teachers are effectively expected to act as both educators and parents, a boundary she considers unrealistic. In her view, a teacher's role is to teach subjects and skills, not to be responsible for a child's upbringing around the clock.

The minister also addressed the roughly 1,600 students in Estonia who still don't know which school they'll attend this fall, about half of whom have a place but haven't yet been entered into the system. She suggested some of these children may be ones no adult has taken an interest in, and said society has been failing them for some time, with various parties — the City of Tallinn, the ministry, or herself — being blamed instead of the problem being solved.

Kallas said identifying these children is the responsibility of local governments. She personally called ten municipalities and found most had already been searching for the missing students. Cases include Ukrainian children who remain in Ukraine and are unsure if they'll return, as well as children unaware they were expected to continue schooling this fall. Kallas suggested that in future, schools should confirm students have applied to continue their education before issuing basic school certificates, and that career counseling should begin while children are still in basic school rather than after they've already left.