The education system in the Republic of Estonia is regulated by the Constitution of the Republic, the Child Protection Act and the Education Act. According to the Constitution, everyone has the right to education, regardless of nationality.
Education is compulsory for all children under the age of 17 years. Education should be provided by a local (residential) school . For disabled children, education is provided in specially organized schools or at home. Children of foreigners or stateless persons are also subject to education, with the exception of children of diplomatic employees of other countries.
According to the Education Act and the Education and Higher Secondary Schools Act of the Republic of Estonia, local authorities must monitor school attendance for children under the age of 17 years. Parents are obliged to provide children with the ability to perform specified lessons. If parents do not comply with this order, they can be punished by administrative procedure.
Pre-school education is provided as accessible to each child. Since most kindergartens are paid, local authorities must pay from 50% to 100% of the cost, based on the earnings of the parents. Parents should not pay more than 20% of the minimum wage set by the Government of the Republic of Estonia.
The Estonian education system has no division into primary and secondary education. The basis of compulsory education is education from grade 1 (enrollment at the age of 7 years) and including grade 9. This training period is divided into 3 periods of knowledge acquisition: Period 1 (from 1 to 3 class); Period 2 (from 4th to 6th grade) and Period 3 (from 7th to 9th grade).
During all three periods, training is conducted according to a single state general education program. The transition from class to class is made by teachers, based on their assessments. If the child does not have sufficient knowledge, then during the summer vacation he must go through an additional 2 week training, after which his transition to the next class will be decided. At the end of the period of study, the school will be issued a certificate and an insert with grades.
Since 2002, there has been a new program for high schools in secondary schools, in which education has become divided into academic and vocational. Academic (only in Estonian, but state examinations in all subjects can be taken in Russian, grades 10-12, tuition is free) leads to higher education. Vocational training leads to job opportunities or continuing education for a professional diploma.
There is an opportunity to receive free higher education, but there are also paid places in universities. Estonia is a member of the European NARIC / ENIC and its diplomas are recognized by all European Union countries.