11. EDUCATION A good education is very important as it gives you and your children an opportunity to be more successful at finding a job and to have a better quality of life. Estonians value education highly. The Estonian education system provides people of any age or educational level with various opportunities to continue their educational path and to retraining. The education should start already at the early age. In Estonia, it is very recommended for children from age 1,5-7 years old to go to the kindergarten. Even if they don't speak Estonian language yet, they will learn it quickly in the kindergarten and adapt to Estonian life faster and improve their social skills needed for school. In the kindergarten they can socialize with their peers and prepare for the school – school will be much easier for them if they already know at least some basics. It can be difficult to get a spot in a kindergarten, so you should register your child as soon as possible for kindergarten. Kindergarten is not free, but there is a possibility to get some financial aid from your local municipality. If you want your child to do well in kindergarten and school, keep contact with your child's teachers. They spend many hours per day with your child, so they can tell you what your child is doing successfully and what do they need to improve. Children aged 7-17 must attend school. The school year in Estonia starts on the 1st of September. In the beginning of the school year, the teachers will let you know what things your child would need in the kindergarten or school - like clothes, shoes, books, stationary etc. You should try to provide everything asked. During the school year, children have five school holidays: a week in the end of October, two weeks during in the end of December, a week in the end of February, a week in the end of April and more than two months in the summer. Students usually finish the grade by the middle of the June. Education in Estonia is free, unless it’s a private school/university, English curriculum in a university or you study part-time. Paid education is not necessarily better than free education in Estonia. The language of instruction is mostly Estonian. However, there are some bilingual schools that offer education 60% in Estonian and 40% in Russian. Additionally, there are few international schools or schools which offer English IB curriculum. 114
If your child doesn’t speak Estonian when enrolling in school, the school must organize Estonian language lessons for them to supplement the regular
