The new reforms that are hollowing out Estonian education

Wikimedia commons. Public domain.The Estonian Ministy of Science and Education has a new development  plan for Estonian education called “Smart and Productive Nation”. The plan concerns transition to “knowledge based economy” and the emergence of life-long learning. Setting the agenda for Estonian education until the year 2018, it is a key document for understanding the priorities and future tendencies of Estonian education.

What strikes the reader, however, is that upon a closer look, the new education plan comes across as riddled with contradictions between its means and ends. The purpose of this writing is to outline some of the envisioned policies and discuss the negative effects they would have on Estonian education.

The first important concept in the plan is “knowledge based economy”. It is said that transition to this new type of economy means that education and science will have an ever increasing influence on the competitiveness of Estonian economy. The concept is not explained, instead it is treated as a measure to achieve the European Union´s ends. We might say that it is one of the terms alongside “network society” and “knowledge society” that refers to the post-industrial era described by information flows and symbol manipulation. “Knowledge-based Estonia” – for the fields of science and innovation – is another one of our government´s future strategies until 2020.