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Estonia: Estonia Education Profile 2012

2012/03/09

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Estonia Education Profile 2012

Today's education in Estonia is divided into general, vocational and hobby education. The education system is based on four levels which include the pre-school, basic, secondary and higher education. A wide network of schools and supporting educational institutions has been established. The Estonian educational system consists of state, municipal, public and private educational institutions. There are currently 589 schools in Estonia.

Academic higher education in Estonia is divided into three levels: bachelor’s studies, master’s studies, and doctoral studies. In some specialties (basic medical studies, veterinary, pharmacy, dentistry, architect-engineer and a classroom teacher program) the Bachelors and Master’s levels are integrated into one unit. Estonian public universities have significantly more autonomy than applied higher education institutions. In addition to organizing the academic life of the university, universities can create new curricula, establish admission terms and conditions, approve the budget, approve the development plan, elect the rector and make restricted decisions in matters concerning assets. Estonia has a moderate number of public and private universities. The largest public universities are Tartu University, Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn University, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Estonian Academy of Arts, and the largest private university is the International University of Audentes.

The Estonian Academy of Sciences is Estonia's national academy of science. The IT industry of Estonia in late 1950s as the first computer centers were established in Tartu and Tallinn. Estonian specialists contributed in the development of software engineering standards for different ministries of the Soviet Union during the 1980s.

Although state spending on education in Estonia grew annually over 10% from 2001 to 2006, the share of this spending as part of the country’s GDP actually fell from 5.3% to 4.6%. Meanwhile, spending on R&D grew to 1.14% of GDP in 2007 and the share of private sector spending in this area rose from a third in 2003 to almost half in 2007. The number of scientists and engineers per thousand employed persons has also risen consistently and was at roughly ten in 2007. However, in all of these figures Estonia still fell below the EU average.

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