2021
Kindergartens are generally valued by the parents, but there is a great shortage of support professionals
The recent study maps the use, accessibility and flexibility of nursery and childcare service as well as the needs of parents in this regard, and presents a prognosis for childcare needs in Estonia until 2030. The current study is a follow-up study of a similar study carried out in 2015. Estonian parents are in favor of their children attending kindergarten. Pre-school childcare is mainly organised in kindergartens run by local authorities. Almost half of the parents use free help from relatives, friends and acquaintances in parallel with kindergarten or child care facility. The availability of kindergarten and childcare facilities is at the same level as in the 2015 survey.
Most parents think that all children should attend kindergarten or pre-school at least a year before school. 3% or about 400 children do not have any pre-school education in kindergarten or pre-school. However, only about half of the parents support obligatory kindergarten from the age of 3, and compared to the previous survey, it has not changed significantly.
The lack of support specialists was again pointed out as a problem - according to the survey, there are on average 222 children per speech therapist in local auhtority kindergartens and 471 children per special teacher. According to parents, only about half of children who need the help of a support specialist can use the services. To alleviate the problem, a reform of the support system for children with special needs has been launched.
In 2019, the kindergarten fee collected from parents covered 13% of the local authority kindergarten arrangement costs. Fees vary from region to region and this is also the reason for the difference in satisfaction - the higher the fee, the lower the parental satisfaction. About 20% of parents are not satisfied with the fee at all.
According to the Estonian Education Information System, in 2019 there were 7,348 kindergarten teachers and 3,950 assistant teachers in Estonia, i.e. an average of 8 children per teacher and 16 children per assistant teacher in a group. For the survey, queries were made to state registers and both local authority officials and parents were interviewed.
The support system for children with special needs is being renewed
The Ministry of Education and Research and the Ministry of Social Affairs are starting to reform support services for children with special needs (SN). The aim of the changes is to provide children with faster, more effective and comprehensive assistance. The reform plans to combine social and educational assessments and organisation of services to provide comprehensive support to children according to their needs. The support system for children with SN has been too fragmented, time-consuming and bureaucratic. Over the next two years, changes are planned in both legislation and practice to prioritise the needs of children and families in the organisation of support services, reduce the burden on parents to apply for support services, and shift the focus to early detection of problems. Cooperation in the fields of education, social affairs and health can reduce duplication and reduce the fragmentation of services.
Methodology centres support the professional development and counselling of Estonian language teachers teaching children with a different mother tongue
As a result of a competition held by the Education and Youth Board, six preschools were chosen to provide support to teachers teaching the Estonian language to children with a different mother tongue in different Estonian regions. These preschools acting as methodology centres will provide assistance to Estonian- or Russian-language preschools teaching Estonian as a second language or enrolling children with a different mother tongue. Teachers will be provided with thematic counselling, training courses, workshops, and training visits. The centres will also lend out methodological literature and teaching materials. The competition was held for the third time.
2020
The new organization of pre-primary education supports the school readiness of all children
A new law on pre-primary education is being prepared, making the system of pre-primary education more coherent in order to provide high-quality pre-primary education to all children and support their readiness for school. Children under the age of 4 can attend kindergarten or childcare facility, which have different requirements and goals according to the current regulations. In kindergarten, a child can acquire pre-school education according to the state curriculum. Childcare is a social service provided in childcare facility or at home to ensure the care, development and safety of the child.
The new law harmonises the requirements for kindergartens and childcare facilities, and municipal and private kindergartens to give parents a clearer understanding of the level of education provided in kindergarten or childcare facility. The new Pre-School Education Act focuses on supporting pre-primary education for all, including home-raised children, and pre-school counselling of parents; facilitating access to kindergartens; the joint responsibility of the family, local government, and kindergarten in supporting pre-school education; the professional competence of teachers, assistant teachers and heads of kindergartens; the organization of support measures and the development of the learning and growth environment.
The draft Pre-School Education Act and the draft national curriculum for pre-school education will be submitted for approval in 2020.
2018
Increasing the wages of pre-school teachers
Targeted support will allow local governments to increase the wages of qualified pre-school teachers to at least 90 per cent of the minimum wage of a general education school teacher and to 100 per cent in the case of teachers with Master’s degrees by 2019. The amount planned as support for covering the labour expenses of the teachers of pre-school children’s institutions in the 2017-2021 state budget is 61 million euros.
The support will be allocated if the minimum wage of a pre-school teacher effective in the local government in the relevant year is at least 840 euros as of 1 September 2017, at least 85% of the minimum wage of a general education school teacher as of 1 September 2018 and at least 90% of said wage as of 2019. As of 2019, the wage of a teacher with a Master’s or equivalent degree must be equal to the minimum wage of a general education school teacher.
If necessary, local governments may also use the support to cover the labour expenses of support specialists or to improve the accessibility of support services.