EESTI ESTONIA TERE Neighbors Finland Russia Latvia Sweden

EESTI / ESTONIA TERE! • Neighbors: Finland, Russia, Latvia, Sweden • Baltic Sea coastline • More than 1, 500 islands • Population: 1. 3 million • Official Language: Estonian • Independence: 1918 -1940 1991 -present (Singing Revolution)

Economy of Estonia • Currency since 1/1/2011: Euro • 28% of GDP: Manufacturing mining, machinery, chemical industries • 61% of GDP: Services information technology, telecommunications industries • GDP per Capita, Estonia: $20, 600 GDP per Capita, USA: $49, 000 • In 2011: GDP growth 8. 3%; public debt 6% of GDP; unemployment rate in Q 2 2012: 10. 2%

Tallinn – the Capital of Estonia • Old City: first fortress built in 1050 • 32% of population in Estonia

Education • Literacy Rate: 99. 8% s • 21 pupils/class (’ 05/’ 06) • 10 pupils/teacher (’ 11/’ 12) • Estonian schools and Russian schools (upper grades: 60% of subjects in Estonian) • Seasonal Physical Training: Swimming, Skiing • Additional Foreign Language: English, German, or French • High School Tracks, for example: humanities vs. math, physics etc

Kohtla-Jarve Ühisgümnaasium

Typical School Day • Walk to school/use school bus /public transportation • From 8/9 am to 1 -4 pm • 45 min classes • Lunch in the cafeteria • After-school extracurricular activities: music school, art school, sport activities

Teachers’ Day • October 5 th • 12 th grade students take on the roles of school principals and teachers • Real teachers go back to studying. . sometimes in costumes (it can be their homework)

Grading/Exams s • Grading system at schools: 1 to 5 • Koolipäevik (Grading Book? ) • Middle School is mandatory education • Middle School or 9 th grade graduates have to take 3 Exams (Estonian language&literature and math) • High School or 12 th grade graduates have to take 5 Exams: school exams and (at least 3) national exams

National Exams • In spring, same day & same time for all students • For example: 2012 Estonian language exam was on 04/30/2012; lasted 6 hours; included 2 parts: writing & reading National exam options: Estonian (required), Russian, English, German, French languages; history; math; biology; geography; physics; chemistry; social science.

High Tech Estonia • Birthplace of Skype • E-government • Highly developed e-systems • Abundant public internet access points • Proge. Tiiger - a plan to teach computer programming to students between 1 st and 12 th grade, a public-private partnership. Pilot program started Sept. 2012: 20 out of 550 schools.