NON-STATE ACTORS IN EDUCATION
2.2 Non-state education provision
3.1 Regulations by distinct levels of education
- Early childhood care and education (Entry/Establishment ○ Financial operation ○ Quality of teaching and learning ○ Equitable access ○ Quality assurance, monitoring and accountability)
- Primary and secondary education (Entry/Establishment ○ Financial operation ○ Quality of teaching and learning ○ Equitable access ○ Quality assurance, monitoring and accountability)
- Tertiary education (Entry/Establishment ○ Financial operation ○ Quality of teaching and learning ○ Equitable access ○ Quality assurance, monitoring and accountability)
3.3 Supplementary private tutoring
While the Republic of Estonia Education Act defines the education levels and institutions from pre-school to higher education and further education, the Private Schools Act defines private school and the different types of institutions from pre-school to vocation education. Defining the different non-state actors, private schools include institutions owned by a public limited company, private limited company, foundation or non-profit-association which are registered and operate in accordance with specific regulations and statutes. More generally, the Act applies to legal persons in private law who can acquire pre-school, basic or secondary education. The Act also mentions ownership by international military headquarters.
The Higher Education Act defines the legal status of public university, state-owned professional higher education institutions, and private higher education institutions. Private higher education institutions which refers to a university or a professional high education institution is owned by a legal person in private law who holds the rights and obligations of the private institution.
2.1 State education provision
State schools
In Estonia, most primary and secondary education (9 years, beginning at age 7) is provided by state or local governments (municipalities) (95% and 96.5% of primary and secondary schools are public, respectively). Primary and lower secondary education are compulsory while upper secondary education (3 years, beginning at age 16) is not mandatory and can be obtained in general upper secondary schools (gümnaasium), and vocational education institutions (kutseõppeasutus). OR can be categorized into general and vocational upper secondary education.
Non-state managed, state schools
There are no such schools.
Non-state funded, state schools
There are no such schools.
2.2 Non-state education provision
Independent, non-state schools
Private schools in Estonia are established and managed by private institutions including commercial companies and non-profit organizations (55 primary to upper secondary schools, 2020/21). These types of schools can include religious schools (Private Schools Act, Art. 11-5) although exact share of schools is unknown although the Union of Estonian Christian Private Schools states there are 2285 students enrolled in the ten member schools in 2020/2021. While there are 521 primary, basic and secondary private schools in Estonia (2020/21), the share of non-state schools by type of provider could not be found. Since 2013/14, there has been a slight increase in the number of private schools and the number of pupils in private education has almost doubled (6873 in 2013/14 and 11058 in 2020/21).
State-funded (government-aided), non-state schools
Other types of private schools include International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) schools, some of which are sponsored by municipalities. In addition, several international schools are based on the agreements between respective countries, including the European schools, and Finnish and German schools. Tuition fees of the children of European Union officials studying at the European School and of the European School’s staff members are covered by the state budget.
While funding of private schools should be covered by the owners, similar to public schools, private schools can receive subsidies from the national or local governments to cover expenses related to teachers and head teachers´ salaries, teaching and learning materials, boarding school places and student school meals. To receive national funds, the private school must invest all profits into the operations of the school. The curriculum of a private school can be developed by the owner of the school but it must comply with the national curriculum set for each education level. Contracts are made between the private school and the government as well as between the private school and the student, according to the Private Schools Act.
Contracted, non-state schools
There are no such schools.
2.3 Other types of schools
Homeschooling
Homeschooling, including studying in hospitals, is legal upon request of a parent or for health reasons with recommendation of an external advisory team (Art. 23, Basic Schools and Upper Secondary Schools Act). Homeschooling at the request of a parent are organized and financed by parents. Homeschooling for health reasons is organized by the school.
Market contracted (Voucher schools)
There are no such schools.
Unregistered/Unrecognised schools
There are no such schools.
Estonia has a decentralized education system where the responsibilities are divided between national/state government and the local government or municipalities. The Ministry of Education and Research (MER) is responsible for non-state provision at all levels. MER administrates the national curriculum, and laws and regulations on educational budget, state supervision, and quality assessment.
Local governments govern pre-school and childcare institutions, basic schools, most upper secondary schools and some of the vocational schools although vocational schools and professional higher education institutions are mostly owned and managed by the state and universities are public law agencies.
Vision: In 1992, the Republic of Estonia Education Act legalized private education and organized principles of the current education system. Regulations have been introduced across the various education levels, including the Private Schools Act (1998, amended in 2019) which governs non-state education from pre-school to secondary education, and the Higher Education Act (2019, amended in 2020) which regulates non-state higher education with additional laws for respective education sectors and programs, such as the Vocational Educational Institutions Act (2013, amended in 2020) and the Institutions of Professional Higher Education Act (1998, amended in 2018).
The Estonian Education Strategy 2021-2035 refers to the role of the private sector, including companies, as important stakeholders and labour market partners with regard to vocational and tertiary education. It highlights their role as part of strengthening vocational secondary education and opportunities for training, as well as in terms of funding for research and development in higher education.
3.1 Regulations by distinct levels of education
Pre-school education is mostly provided in pre-school institutions (koolieelne lasteasutus) by local authorities (or municipalities) with few private centres complementing the demand (9.4%). The Preschool Child Care Institutions Act obliges local governments to provide all children aged from 1.5 (18 months) to 7 years access to a pre-school child care institution upon request from the parents (Art. 10). Pre-school education provides different types of “child-oriented active learning methods (e.g., StepbyStep, Waldorf teaching methodology, Reggio Emilia teaching methodology, language immersion methodology, discovery learning, entrepreneurship, and outdoor learning)”. Childcare services (lapsehoiuteenus) cater mainly for the younger children under age 4.
While the Pre-school Child Care Institutions Act (1999, amended in 2019) applies to private ECCE institutions, the Private Schools Act (1998 and last amended in 2019) regulates private ECCE institutions and those in primary and secondary education.
Registration and approval: See Multi-level regulations.
Licence: See Multi-level regulations.
Profit-making: See Multi-level regulations.
Taxes and subsidies: See Multi-level regulations.
Quality of teaching and learning
Curriculum and education standards: See Multi-level regulations.
Teaching profession: See Multi-level regulations.
Fee-setting: See Multi-level regulations.
Admission selection and processes: See Multi-level regulations.
Policies for vulnerable groups: See Multi-level regulations.
Quality assurance, monitoring and accountability
Reporting requirements: See Multi-level regulations.
Inspection: See Multi-level regulations.
Child assessment: According to the Preschool Child Care Institutions Act, an ECCE institution issues a school readiness card to those who have completed the preschool education curriculum. A parent submits the school readiness card to the school where the child commences his or her compulsory school attendance. A school readiness card describes the child’s achievements in the development of general skills and in fields of learning activities, following the national curriculum for preschools. The child’s strengths, as well as aspects that need development, are outlined.
Sanctions: See Multi-level regulations.
Registration and approval: See Multi-level regulations.
Licence: SeeMulti-level regulations.
Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH): See Multi-level regulations.
Profit-making: See Multi-level regulations.
Taxes and subsidies: See Multi-level regulations.
Quality of teaching and learning
Curriculum and education standards: See Multi-level regulations.
Textbooks and learning materials: Provisions on textbooks or educational literature for primary and secondary education are included in the Basic Schools and Upper Secondary Schools Act (2010, amended in 2020), which states that MER ensures the requirements, compliance of publishers and the availability of the minimum educational literature to complete the national curricula.
Teaching profession: See Multi-level regulations.
Corporal punishment: The Basic Schools and Upper Secondary Schools Act (2010, amended in 2020) states that schools must “ensure the mental and physical security and the protection of the health of students during their stay at school” (Art. 44). The response to situations that can jeopardise the mental or physical security of students and staff, along with procedures for such responses, form part of a school’s internal rules which are approved by the owner of the school.
Fee-setting: See Multi-level regulations.
Admission selection and processes: See Multi-level regulations.
Policies for vulnerable groups: See Multi-level regulations.
Quality assurance, monitoring and accountability
School board: See Multi-level regulations.
Reporting requirements: See Multi-level regulations.
School inspection: See Multi-level regulations.
Student assessments: The Basic Schools and Upper Secondary Schools Act (2010, amended in 2020) also complements the Private Schools Act by defining among other areas, student assessments and examinations (Art. 29-31). All students must take final examinations to graduate from basic school and upper secondary school (Year 9 and Year 12). Article 29.2 explains how students should be assessed in school. Student assessments are managed by Education and Youth Board (Harno), which is an agency under the MER.
Diplomas and degrees: See Multi-level regulations.
Sanctions: See Multi-level regulations.
Tertiary education in Estonia is provided in universities and professional higher education institutions (PHEI). PHEIs provide professional courses to acquire the competencies necessary for working in a certain profession or for continuing studies at the master’s level. Few privately owned universities (1) and private professional higher education institutions (5) exist in Estonia, and the majority of tertiary education is provided by the state (6 universities under public law and 8 state PHEI). In 2019, regulations on private universities and PHEI were transferred to the Higher Education Act (2019) from the Private Schools Act.
Registration and approval: Providers for private universities and PHEIs are limited to (public or private) companies, foundations, or non-profit associations with sufficient capital prescribed in the law (Art. 29).
Licence: The provider must also apply to the MER for licence and meet the requirements, such as setting development goals and objectives, using Estonian as the language of instruction, and concluding a contract with the student before teaching (Art. 30).
Using expert assessment, the ministry of responsible for the field can grant a higher education institution the right to organize studies for an unspecified term or for one to three years to provide time to address deficiencies within that time limit. If this occurs three times the minister has to make a decision on whether to grant the right to organize study programmes within the field (Art. 10). The minister can also “refuse to grant the right to organise studies” if they do not comply with the requirements or “the sustainability required for the studies is not sufficient” (Art. 10).
Profit-making: The right of a private school to make a profit depends on the legal form of school owner (company, foundation or non-profit association). However, to receive national funds for covering operating expenses, the private school must invest all profits into the operations of the school.
Taxes and subsidies: A private higher education institution can be allocated state-funding for activity or targeted support based on strategic goals of the state and the need for highly educated specialists in the labour market. Activity support can be used for teaching and studies. A contract is established with the owner of the private higher education institution (Art. 46).
Quality of teaching and learning
Curriculum and education standards: The Higher Education Act (2019), which regulates all higher education institutions regardless of ownership (Art. 1), states that the Government of the Republic establishes the standards for this education level, and MER verifies the compliance of study programmes with the requirements (Art. 3).
Teaching profession: The employer establishes the grades of academic staff positions, the conditions of and procedure for filling the positions, the requirements applicable to academic staff, the length and finalization of a fixed-term employment, and a contract security of employment or tenure (Art. 34). Evaluation of staff should be done by the employer of the academic staff at least once every five years of employment (Art. 35).
Fee-setting: Tertiary education in Estonia is fee free for full-time students pursuing an Estonian study program and obtaining the required level of credits every semester. Fees are established and regulated by the Government of the Republic. Students may pay a fee if the study expenses of the program of the private higher education institution is not covered from activity support or targeted support mentioned above (Art. 16).
Admission selection and processes: Admissions to study programs is established by the higher education institution (Art. 13), minimum requirements are set by Article 12 in addition to those set by the institution. The higher education institution also has a right to set a limit on the number of students admitted into the program with justification. Needs-based allowance is available to students from financially disadvantaged background and there are special scholarships for students with special needs. In addition, all students can apply for state guaranteed study loan.
Quality assurance, monitoring and accountability
Board: The owner of the private universities and PHEIs must have a rector and a council that manages their institution within the authority determined by the owner (Art. 32). If necessary, private universities and PHEIs may receive activity support (Art. 41) for promoting high-quality studies and targeted support (Art. 42) to pursue their strategic goals (Art. 46).
Reporting requirements: The conditions for the support are established in a contract concluded with the owner of the institution.
Inspection: The quality of tertiary education institutions is maintained by institutional accreditation and thematic quality assessments conducted at least once in 7 years. Both are carried out by the Estonian Quality Agency for Higher and Vocational Education (EKKA) under an administrative contract with the Minister of MER (Art. 37). Institutional accreditation assesses the management, and teaching and learning environment of the institution with the goals that they have raised (Art. 38). Depending on the results, the accreditation is valid for 7 years if approved, or limited to 3 years with instructions for revising, or refused. The Minister may provide an elimination period up to two years or revoke the right to organizes studies granted to the institution.
Quality assessments are essentially supportive feedback and recommendations for achieving international assessment and self-development. The EKKA has an assessment council that consists of higher education experts and higher education quality assurance experts, including an expert of each field of study, and at least one student.
Assessment: The uniform requirements for higher education and the learning outcomes by levels of higher education are established by the Standard of Higher Education. Higher education institutions are free to choose the methods for assessing the achievement of learning outcomes.
Diplomas and degrees: The higher education institution issues the diploma to the student certifying they have completed the study programme (Art. 19). The minister responsible for the field of the study programme establishes “the uniform grading system and the conditions of and procedure for issuing diplomas”.
Sanctions: The minister responsible for the field of the study programme has the right to revoke an institution’s right to organize studies based on various motives, including unlawful actions by the institution, the quality of the studies and the teaching and learning environment, and teaching did not commence 12 month after receiving the right to organize studies or teaching was suspended for 12 months consecutively (Art. 10). If a higher education institutions has not been granted the right to organize studies or the right has been revoked, they “can no longer reapply for the right to organise studies in the same study programme group and level before a year has passed from the adoption of the respective decision” (Art. 9).
3.2 Multi-level regulations
The regulations referred to in this section are based on the Private Schools Act (1998, amended in 2019), which regulates non-state education from pre-school to secondary education in addition to the Pre-school Child Care Institutions Act (1999, amended in 2019) and the Basic Schools and Upper Secondary Schools Act (2010, amended in 2020), included in the previous sections.
Registration and approval: According to the Private Schools Act, non-state providers from pre-school education to secondary education include commercially registered (public or private) companies, foundations or non-profit organizations (Art. 2). The provider must meet the minimum capital requirements (Art. 2.1), have an appropriate name for the school (Art. 3) and apply for a licence to the MER (Art. 5.4).
Licence: With an activity licence, providers can carry out their instruction “on the basis of the curriculum specified in the activity licence, within the limits of the level of education and in the administrative territory of the local authority” (Art. 5). Requirements for an activity licence include the statutes of the private school, the curriculum to be taught, the development plan for the school, certificates certifying the qualifications of the head of the school, the teaching staff and the management body, and information on the suitable premises, furnishings and other property needed to carry out activities in the school (Art. 5.4). Compliance with health, fire safety and rescue criteria as well as school health provision is also needed. These requirements are also specified in additional education laws. Before submitting an application, state fee must be paid (Art. 5.8), and a security deposit of no more than 650 EUR must be paid within one month for expert assessment of the curriculum as part of the licensing process. This security deposit can be refunded in the event of a positive outcome (Art. 8). As part of this process, the number of students in a class or group in a private school can be determined by the board of the private school (Art. 16) although they must follow the group sizes established by the Pre-school Child Care Institutions Act (1999, amended in 2019, Art. 16.1) and the Basic Schools and Upper Secondary Schools Act (2010, amended in 2020, Art. 26)).
Written opinion by the local authority is also required. Schools with International Baccalaureate curriculum and European schools must also be licensed by the Ministry, while foreign education institutions and branches are based on agreements between the states (Art. 10). Once approved, the licence is valid for 5 years.
WASH: Requirements on infrastructure and safety form a part of the application for an activity licence (Art. 5).
Profit-making: To receive state funding, the private school must invest all profits into the operations of the school. (Art. 22.3).
Taxes and subsidies: The Private Schools Act requires the local government to subsidize private schools, similarly to public schools (Art. 22). For example, local governments can cover operating costs of schools, and salaries and costs for acquiring teaching aids for private pre-school teachers. In basic schools and upper secondary schools, the state budget covers the cost of teachers’ and heads’ salaries and in-service training, textbooks, study aids and school lunch expenses. The MER can also allocate funds for operating expenses depending on whether the owner of the school meets certain requirements (Art. 22.3).
Quality of teaching and learning
Curriculum and education standards: Curriculum in private schools must comply with the national curricula and be approved by the MER (Art. 11). The curriculum for pre-school education, and primary and secondary education are included in the regulations specific to each education level.
The Private Schools Act also regulates the language used in schools and states that Estonian language instruction must be provided if the teaching is conducted by any other language than Estonian, and the language of administration must be Estonian.
Teaching profession: The head of a school, head teacher and teachers must comply with the qualification requirements set by the government (Art. 5.4). The salaries of teachers in preschool, primary and secondary education may be covered from the relevant state, rural municipality or city budget on the grounds provided for in the Pre-school Child Care Institutions Act (Art. 27.5) and the Basic Schools and Upper Secondary Schools Act (Private Schools Act, 2009, Art. 22). A minimum salary is set nationally for basic and gymnasium teachers (p. 105). Further, teachers in Estonia are not considered civil servants and have no accreditation process. They are considered employees of the respective school providers (i.e., state, municipality or private) (p. 195).
Corporal punishment: The Child Protection Act (2014, amended in 2019) states that all children under the age of 18 have specific rights and that their well-being should be ensured. The Act describes the requirements and restrictions of individuals working with children (Chapter 4, Art. 18-20) as well as the principles of the treatment of children (Chapter 5, Art. 21-25).
Other safety measures and Covid-19: No information on specific policies or regulations related to COVID and non-state schools was found. The restrictions and measures in the field of education imposed by the MER in order to limit the spread of Covid-pandemic and mitigate its effects, apply to all educational institutions, regardless of their form of ownership.
Fee-setting: Tuition fee is determined by the owner of the private school and can be raised by up to 10% between academic years if the contract between a student and the private school does not establish otherwise (Art. 22.6).
Admission selection and processes: Private basic schools, upper secondary schools or vocational educational institutions are able to set their own admission requirements in addition to the basic requirements prescribed in the laws (Art. 12). There are no regulations related to specific equity initiatives.
Policies for vulnerable groups: Students attending a private school are entitled to the same concessions and benefits granted to students in state or municipal schools by the state and local authorities (Art. 16). In addition, funding is proposed in the annual State Budget Act for operating expenses for the schools related to students who receive enhanced support or special support, and a contract of use of support is agreed between the manager of the private school and MER (Art. 22-2).
Quality assurance, monitoring and accountability
Board: Private schools must have a management body composed of a school board (Art. 21) and the head of the school (Art. 20), representatives of the teachers, the owner, and other persons as prescribed by the statutes of the private school. Vocational schools require an additional board of advisors (Art. 21-2). One fifth of the school board members in pre-school childcare institutions and basic schools must be parents, while the board of an upper secondary school or a vocational educational institution must include students.
Reporting requirements: See licence section for requirements owners must provide every five years.
Inspection: The learning and education activities in private schools are supervised by MER, according to the same principles that apply to municipal educational institutions (Art. 5 -23). If the headmaster or owner of a private school does not agree with the findings of the state supervision institution, it can be disputed within one month.
Private schools can also be audited to understand the economic situation of the school and the annual accounts of the owner of the private school (Art. 22-1).
Diplomas and degrees: Private schools have the right to provide students with a state graduation document if the student meets the same requirements as a student in a state or local/municipal school (Art. 18). The private school can also establish additional graduation requirements and issue additional documents certifying graduation.
Sanctions on school closures: The MER can revoke a schools licence on the basis of the rules laid out in the Economic Activities Code Act, if the teaching does not begin with 12 months of receiving the licence or is stopped for 12 consecutive months, or if false information is provided (Art. 5-6).
Closure of a private school can occur when the school does not hold a licence over a period of six months, “a liquidation procedure has been initiated against the owner”; the owner or the management board decides “it would be impractical for the private school to continue its operations”; or the law prescribes the school closure (Art. 24). Students, parents, employees and MER need to be informed four months in advance of the school closure. Once the school has closed, the owner of the private school has to ensure students can “continue their studies in an educational institution providing instruction of the corresponding level”.
3.3 Supplementary private tutoring
According to the study, the Private Schools Act is the only regulation which establishes licensing requirements for private providers. See Terminology section for more information.
Ownership of hobby education is defined in the Private Schools Act as “self-employed person and legal persons in private law” who provide hobby education for more than 120 hours or six months in a year (Art. 1). Establishment requirements are similar to those described in the Multi-level regulations. Moreover, the Hobby Schools Act (2006, amended 2014) and the Standard for Hobby Education (2007) also regulates hobby schools, regardless of legal status. The Hobby Schools Act (2006, amended 2014) states that the application for registration of hobby schools include “the statutes of the hobby school; study programmes for all the hobbies; a list of school staff engaged in the educational activities of the hobby school; data concerning the buildings, premises, construction works and equipment needed for hobby education; and if the hobby school has several founders, a memorandum of association stating the terms and conditions of and procedure for establishment, ownership, financing and operation (Art. 6-7). The manager of a hobby school must pay a state fee before submitting an application for registration. The registration can be revoked by the MER (Art. 8).
Financial operation and quality
See information in the Financial operation section of Multi-level regulations., as the Hobby Schools Act (2006, amended 2014) does not include information on grants to private hobby schools (Art. 21).
In addition to the information on Quality in the Multi-level regulations., the quality of hobby schools are detailed in the Standard for Hobby Education (2007) which states that a study programme has to be prepared for each hobby communicated to the Estonian Information System for Education.
Quality assurance of hobby education is the responsibility of the MER or a country governor of the location of a hobby school. They monitor the compliance with the legislative requirements of the field of educational activities; issues of policy implementation and the legality of the use of funds allocated to a hobby school from the state budget (Art. 23-24).
The Hobby Schools Act (2006, amended 2014) defines the staff of a hobby school, including specialists in hobby education, teachers, vocational instructors, trainers, youth workers and other employees. No qualification requirements are established for private tutoring.
This profile was drafted by Miwa Okajima during her internship with the GEM Report. It was reviewed by Inga Kukk, Adviser, Head of Eurydice national unit, Ministry of Education and Research.
