Schools say the Ministry of Education’s ban on expelling students from secondary school caught them by surprise and are now facing difficulties implementing the new rules, writes ERR News.
Starting in the 2025/2026 academic year, schooling in Estonia will be compulsory until the age of 18, meaning that secondary schools and technical schools can no longer deny students entry or expel them, even if the student does not meet the school’s requirements.
Some school principals have said they need more time to sort out the documentation and properly implement the new rules. Since September, schools can only expel a minor if the young person has submitted such a request.
Karmen Paul, the director of Viimsi Gymnasium, said that the new rules no longer allow for quality assurance, as, for example, the condition that a student must pass at least half of the requirements for each subject (or obtain at least three points on a five-point scale) can no longer be applied to students under the age of 18. The director added that schools believe that the number of students should be increased, but that these changes may affect the number of educational institutions available to students and will also increase the workload of teachers.
Since the ministry’s decision came unexpectedly, school directors expect more time to be given
so that students, parents and teachers can discuss the new situation. Paula said that these are important questions about the assessment system, feedback and everything else, and that the curriculum also needs to be reformed.
Marjeta Venno, the head of the Curriculum Department at the Ministry of Education, pointed out that the aim of the changes is to standardize educational practices so that they serve the needs of young people. She stressed that each school applies its own rules, or interprets the rules differently, and this needs to stop: “We started to hear stories about situations where this kind of exclusion policy in each school became differentiated, and some sagas seemed to be not very supportive of young people. At times, it seemed that a young person’s right to study was actually being harmed.” The ministry spokeswoman added that schools had enough time to discuss the changes, as parliament approved them last year, and the new rules came into force on the 1st of September, nine months later.
Venno pointed out that once a student reaches the age of 18, he or she can be expelled from school, but the ministry is preparing a bill to end this discrepancy as well.
The period of compulsory education was extended to 18 years of age to reduce the number of students dropping out of secondary schools, especially during the first years of secondary school or vocational education, when students are 16-17 years old. The new regulations stipulate that a student can only be expelled from an educational institution when a new place of study has been found, either in another educational institution or by changing their professional direction within the same school. The Ministry of Education has indicated that the changes are intended to achieve continuity of education and prevent young people from leaving the education system. Before the changes came into force, only primary education was compulsory, which young people usually complete when they are around 16 years old.
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