Education and Science, Estonia, EU – Baltic States, Good for Business, Rating

This is applicable especially for kindergartens, the attendance of which, unlike for a great number of OECD countries, does not depend on the level of education of the parents, spokespeople for the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research told.

"The OECD comparison confirms that we are on the right path with our education system, we do not discriminate against any children nor do we divide them in groups," Minister of Education and Research Mailis Reps said at the presentation of the report. "We want to move even further and for example improve the accessibility of pre-school education, because as the OECD confirms, this is the best way to actually reach every child. In order to do that, we are planning to launch negotiations to make kindergartens partly or fully accessible for free."

The OECD also highlighted the salary increase of Estonian teachers, which has been one of the highest among OECD countries in recent years, exceeding over 50%. "In absolute numbers, the salaries of our teachers are modest compared to wealthier countries and this is namely why the salary hike must continue as quickly as possible," Reps said. "The salary of teachers is the basis for ensuring that we have enough teachers of all subjects in the future and that young people favor schools more in the ever increasing labor market competition."

The OECD report also analyzed gender-based differences and according to the results, women still reach higher education more than men, but men's employment is greater. In addition, the report also focused on the opportunities of those born abroad in the education system.