Estonia. 1991.
After more than 50 years of Soviet occupation and communist dictatorship, Estonia regained
its independence. The legacy of the communist era for the Estonians was, as for all the
other countries of the former Soviet Union, disastrous.
In 1991, Estonian GDP per capita was less than $3,500, the equivalent in today’s terms
of countries like Bolivia or El Salvador.
Of course, the worst was yet to come. The disintegration of the Soviet bloc was a hard
blow for its member countries. And of course Estonia was no exception. In 1992 its economy
shrank by more than 20%.
It was time to build a new country model.
And VisualPolitik fans, this was an idea that the Estonians took very, very seriously.
While some of the new offshoots of the Soviet Union, such as Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Belarus
plunged into instability, crisis and autocracy, Estonia's story was completely different.
Today Estonia is one of the most prosperous countries in the world. Its potential is immense
and its standard of living is improving all the time. In 2020, Estonia's price-adjusted
GDP per capita approached $40,000, which has already enabled it to surpass countries like
Spain.And that’s not all. The development of practically all its macroeconomic parameters
beats not only Spain but also the majority of European Union countries by a long way.
For example, it is one of the countries with the healthiest public accounts in the world
and has the highest rates of entrepreneurship of any European country in relation to its
population. Every year more than 20 companies are created for every 1,000 inhabitants, this
is six times higher than the EU average. And so, Estonia has become the nation of European
entrepreneurs. Something like a small, and yes, icy, Silicon Valley in the heart of the
European Union.
But having said that, the question is, how on earth have they achieved such an evolution
in such a short time? What is the secret behind the Estonian model? What are the ingredients
of their success?
Well... Here, as we told you in an exclusive video on Patreon, we can highlight several
factors: from fiscal policy to its commitment to technology.
In addition, among the most important ingredients of Estonian success is its education system.
You may not know it and you would never have imagined it, but Estonia has the best education
system in Europe. In fact, it calls itself the "Education Nation".
But, do you want to know what is so special about its educational system? What exactly
are its most important characteristics and key aspects?
Well... Listen up.
(THE 'HOW' IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE 'HOW MUCH')
The success of the Estonian educational model is not a matter of opinion, it is something
confirmed by all the institutions dedicated to evaluating the various educational systems,
including of course the PISA report.
According to PISA, Estonia literally leads not only Europe but the world. After Singapore,
this small Baltic country is the top scorer in all three basic skills: reading, mathematics
and science.
And that's not the end of it. Let's move on to some important facts.
The country has the world's highest percentage of high-achieving students from lower income
families.
And it records the smallest difference in results between rural and urban environments.
What’s more, they have the lowest rate of students without basic education – just
5% – and one of the lowest grade repetition rates in the OECD.
And as if that wasn't enough, it also ranks highest in terms of foreign language proficiency.
And so VisualPolitik community, here the social elevator is running at full speed.
Estonia has overtaken the Finnish education system itself, until now the benchmark for
education in Europe.
So, how did they do it? And right here I know what many of you are thinking: [host], sure,
sure, sure they spend an awful lot on education.
Well... No, you are very, very wrong.
Yes, Estonia makes a significant effort in education, but public spending per pupil is
by far not the highest in the OECD. Not even if we adjust spending for the differences
in prices and wages.
In fact, there are many countries with much higher expenditure per pupil and yet much
worse results.
Do you want an example? Well, how about... Spain. Check it out.
As you can see, despite having the best educational results by far, Estonia is far from the country
that spends the most on education per pupil. In fact, its level of spending is well below
the OECD and EU averages, even taking into account the price difference.
Which brings us directly to an idea that I think bears repeating:
NO. Politicians, spending more on education is NOT the simple recipe for success. If it
were that simple, it would be pretty easy, wouldn't it? It would be enough to spend more
and more to get better results.
The reality, however, is totally different. This is not about how much is spent but above
all about how the funds are used. So please, politicians and journalists of all colours
and parties, stop using the money mantra once and for all.
Let's take another example. Iceland spends much, much, much more per pupil than Estonia,
and I repeat, this is even taking into account the differences in salaries and prices.
So if we go by the political logic that more spending means better results, then Iceland
should have a much better education system than Estonia. However, surprise! It's not
only that Estonia wins, it's that Iceland, according to PISA for example, is one of the
worst performing countries in Europe.
Spending, my friends, is not everything. But having said that, and now that we know that
it's not just a question of money, what do you say we get right down to it and dive into
the key aspects of the Estonian education system?
What can we learn from them?
Listen up.
(THE PILLARS OF ESTONIAN PROSPERITY)
OK VisualPolitik fans, clear your mind for a while because the educational model we are
going to talk about has little to do with anything you have seen so far.
We are going to talk about an educational model that, strangely, is not subordinated
to political interests, but to the needs of human capital that the modern world has, including
of course the world of business and entrepreneurship.
Wait, wait, wait, wait a minute... An education system designed so that students can find
a high-skilled job quickly upon completion of their studies? It seems almost crazy.
Well, yes, that’s correct. In Estonia, education has become one of the key pillars on which
the country's economic plans hinge.
Now, the question, the big question is: how, exactly, does the Estonian educational model
differ from that of other countries?
Well, the first key can be found in independence. Independence of both schools and teachers.
And you see, although in Estonia all schools have to adhere to a framework programme of
minimum content set by the government, the application of this framework is very open,
and each school, institute or even each teacher, has a lot of independence in deciding both
the final educational curriculum and the method.
And believe me when I tell you that both schools and teachers were the first ones interested
in making all this work.
Among other things because of the dual Estonian model of public financing of education.
Wait, wait, model what? What on earth is that?
Well, let’s see. In Estonia private education barely exists. However, despite this, public
schools are subject to an intense model of competition.
On the one hand, the funding of schools follows a philosophy that closely resembles the process
of market competition. The income that schools receive is determined by the number of students
they attract. The more students a school gets, the more funding it receives.
On the other hand, the academic performance and characteristics of each school are constantly
evaluated and the results are fully public. This generates the competitive dynamic of
parents wanting to enroll their children in the best schools and institutes, in turn those
schools attract more students and get more funding.
This process also increases the pressure on the leaders and teachers of the schools with
the worst performance, making them try harder.
And that's not all. It is no longer just a matter of the best schools and colleges being
more in demand, having a better reputation and more resources. But that good results
also guarantee their survival.
Because... one of the great challenges facing Estonia is demography. In the last 15 years
the number of students in the country has fallen by 40%, which has forced the government
and municipalities to close the surplus schools and institutes. However, it’s only those
with the worst results that are closed.
So you can imagine the interest that both schools and teachers have in improving their
results and attracting more students.
Incidentally, at this point it must be said that the principals and governing bodies of
each school have a very high level of autonomy in such things as, for example, deciding which
teachers they hire, what salaries teaching staff receive, and how they distribute the
funding they receive from the government.
Yes, yes, that’s right: Teachers' salaries in Estonia are not the same in all schools,
nor are they determined by collective agreement. They are decided within the schools themselves.
Of course, the more funding a centre receives, the higher salaries it can pay. It is simply
the result of competition.
What’s more, this greater level of autonomy allows each centre to differentiate itself
from others by specialising in different areas: art, economics, science, and so on and so
forth.
There are even so-called "elite schools", a type of school designed to be able to develop
all the abilities of the brightest students.
But that's not the end of the story.
Teachers are also subject to higher levels of competence and more responsibilities than
in other countries.
For example, if students perform poorly over a long period of time, the teacher may even
be dismissed. But in order not to have to go to that extreme, Estonian teachers receive
intense continuous training, which allows them to improve and refresh themselves in
terms of knowledge, content or teaching methods. It is an intense and compulsory training that
brings many benefits: for example, the adaptation to new technologies.
In return, teachers have more teaching freedom and influence in decision-making.
For example, 83% of school principals in Estonia say that teachers play an important role in
tasks such as designing school policies, the curriculum and teaching methods. In this regard,
the Baltic country is almost double the OECD average of 42%.
Isn't it amazing? Everything, absolutely everything in Estonia's educational model is based on
competition. And remember that we are talking about an essentially public system. It seems
almost otherworldly.
Now, at this point you may be wondering: OK, OK, but what exactly does the school curriculum
look like? Does it have anything to do with the country's very high rate of business creation?
Let’s take a look.
(SIDE BY SIDE UNTIL THE FINAL SUCCESS)
We mentioned it at the beginning of the video: the Estonian educational model is primarily
oriented towards business and preparation for the world of work.
For example, representatives of both civil society and the companies themselves participate
in the design of academic programmes. But this is not the only area of collaboration.
Both secondary and tertiary education have extensive work experience programmes that
allow Estonian students to enter the labour market with some experience.
In this regard, Estonia has made a very strong commitment to include work placements in vocational
education, which would be the equivalent of vocational training, and also in university
Master's degrees.
And we are not talking about the typical month-long internships. These programs include internships
that account for up to 50% of the training hours.
But apart from the collaboration with companies, we can highlight another very particular characteristic:
Estonians are obsessed with equality in the educational phase.
And I am not talking about equality in the sense of making sure that everyone gets a
degree, but that everyone has the same conditions regardless of their socio-economic environment.
In other words, equality of opportunities, not of results.
This means that in Estonia, not only is education paid for by the State, including university,
but also textbooks and even the cafeteria. Students in compulsory education have free
meals at school.
In addition, all pupils up to the age of 19 have free health cover, as well as free nurses
in primary schools, free routine medical check-ups and free dental care.
The fundamental idea is that regardless of the socio-economic status they are born into,
all students can have the same opportunities.
In short, competition, specialization, integration with the business world and equal opportunities
in a country with little bureaucracy and low taxes. Not bad, don't you think?
Of course, not everything is perfect. And while Estonia's education system has proven
to be by far the best in Europe today, it still has some challenges. Two in particular:
the shortage of subject-specific teachers and improving the educational performance
of ethnic Russian students.
So there you have it, these are the key aspects to Estonia's educational model, the best educational
system in Europe and one of the best in the world. One of the ingredients that has allowed
this country not only to make a huge leap in prosperity, but also to become a technological
leader and a hotbed of start-ups.
The question is: Do you think your country should take notes from the Estonian success
story? What would you like to see in your country?
Leave us your comments below, and as always, if you liked this video please like and subscribe
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