Nearly 14,700 Estonian pupils start first grade this year

Nearly 14,700 pupils will start first grade in Estonia this year, while about 160,000 students will begin studying in general education schools, ERR reported.

More than 26,000 students will enrol in vocational education, and over 47,000 will attend higher education institutions.

In Tallinn’s municipal general education schools, around 45,700 pupils are expected to study during the new academic year, including about 3,600 first-graders. The exact figures will be known by September 10, after schools enter their data into the EHIS information system.

Tallinn has 60 municipal schools and one vocational school. Fewer than 17,000 children will attend the city’s municipal kindergartens during the 2026/2027 academic year. From September 1, Tallinn will have 115 kindergartens, in addition to kindergarten groups operating at Tallinn Laagna Kindergarten-Primary School and Tallinn Helen School.

The School Peace title will go to Rapla County for the first time this year, with Märjamaa rural municipality selected as the title holder. The initiative brings together the communities of six educational institutions in Märjamaa to keep schools friendly, safe and caring places.

Minister calls for curiosity and bold thinking

Education and Science Minister Kristina Kallas said in her start-of-year address that September 1 is one of the few days when people across almost the whole of Estonia seem to start anew.

“Some are going to school for the first time, some for the last time. Some are standing in front of a class as teachers for the first time. And some parents discover during the first week that their mathematics skills are not quite as fresh as they thought,” Kallas said.

She noted that artificial intelligence can write essays, solve equations and provide answers to almost any question within seconds. This could prompt people to ask why they should study at all, she said.

“But perhaps the right question is the opposite: if answers become cheap, what becomes valuable? Independent thinking. The ability to understand when a machine is wrong. Creativity. Concentration. Understanding another person. And the courage to say, ‘I do not know yet, but I want to find out.’ These are things that cannot be downloaded with a single click,” Kallas said.

The minister wished students curiosity and “a little mischief in their thinking” during the new school year, urging them not always to settle for the first answer. She wished teachers creativity and resilience, adding that the best learning sometimes happens when a lesson takes a slightly different direction from the one planned.