Tallinn Mayor Jevgeni Ossinovski met with the directors of transition schools. He said that the first school year after the education reform went better than feared. However, the state left several things undone, such as the quality control system.
There are 20 transition schools in Tallinn. School leaders said that the school year was more successful than expected. The city government provided funds to hire more teachers. This helped in kindergartens and schools.
There are problems in the fourth grades. Children do not know Estonian well enough. This creates difficulties in learning and mental health. Some teachers could not cope and left the school.
The state did not prepare the education reform well. For example, special teaching aids are missing. Tallinn is creating them itself and plans to use them in the next school year.
Estonia initiated a major education reform, but the quality control system was not created. Tallinn is trying to create its own system, knowing that other municipalities will not do it.
Educational segregation persists. Ossinovski said that it is necessary to move towards a unified Estonian school where Estonian- and Russian-speaking children learn together. The current reform does not solve this problem.
Tallinn plans to take steps towards a unified school. Estonian children cannot be directed to transition schools. Some Russian-speaking schools created Estonian-language classes, but interest was low.
More and more children from Russian-speaking families in Tallinn are choosing Estonian-language schools. In 2022, a law on the transition to Estonian-language education was passed. The transition began in 2023 and will end in 2030.