Reflection
The article draws on data from Statistics Estonia showing that the number of pupils in Estonia’s Russian-medium schools has remained stable. Over the past decade, around 50% of pupils in Ida-Virumaa and around 30% in Tallinn have studied in Russian. The findings once again provide research-backed evidence that attending a Russian-medium school is associated with the intergenerational reproduction of segregation patterns.
In light of the nationwide transition from Russian- to Estonian-language instruction that began in September 2024, I argue that this trend is now changing. The shift is not limited to the fact that all Year 1 and Year 4 pupils in schools undergoing the transition are studying in Estonian in the 2024/2025 academic year. In September 2023, 3,504 pupils began Year 1 in Tallinn, of whom 38.2% enrolled in schools undergoing the transition. In 2024, this share fell to 34.6%. By May 2025, the proportion of Year 1 applications to these schools had declined further to 30.3%. Over two years, this represents a decrease of eight percentage points, or approximately 400 children.
However, Russian-speaking children who now study in Estonian in schools undergoing the transition may still remain within the vicious circle of segregation by the end of their schooling, as the overwhelming majority of pupils in their schools and neighbourhoods come from non-Estonian-speaking backgrounds. The transition to Estonian-language education is expected primarily to improve Estonian language proficiency among pupils whose home language is not Estonian. This is only a first step and a precondition for meaningful contact with Estonian speakers and for breaking out of the vicious circle of segregation.
My recommendations for policymakers and practitioners are as follows.
Socio-economic inequality and ethnic segregation in education are closely intertwined, and solutions must address both. Reports by the Foresight Centre show that in Estonia the median income of pupils’ families predicts performance in mathematics examinations.10 In Tallinn, Russian-medium schools have, on average, lower academic outcomes and lower socio-economic indicators among pupils’ families, reflecting the consequences of language-based segregation. Local governments should therefore develop action plans, supported by appropriate funding models, to reduce socio-economic inequality. Schools with the lowest academic results and socio-economic indicators could receive additional per capita funding based on the number of non-Estonian-speaking pupils and the median family income. These additional resources should be tied to clearly defined targets and measurable indicators over a set period – for example, five years. Strong educational leadership is also essential, including reinforcing school leadership capacity or rotating experienced leaders. A comparable approach has been implemented for several years in Helsinki, where outcomes are evaluated in cooperation with the University of Helsinki. In other countries, similar initiatives have been implemented, often referred to as school turnaround programmes.
Families with Estonian as their mother tongue should be encouraged to enrol their children in former Russian-language schools. In several Estonian-medium schools in Tallinn, the share of pupils with other home languages has increased significantly, while some transition schools are experiencing declining enrolment. The challenge is how to attract Estonian-speaking families to these schools. This can be supported by developing attractive and modern learning environments and by clearly communicating the strengths and distinctive features of transition schools. In Tallinn, several former Russian-language kindergartens with new and modern facilities now have waiting lists, indicating that many Estonian-speaking families have enrolled their children. Transition schools could apply targeted positive measures, such as innovative teaching methods or smaller class sizes, to increase their appeal. In September 2025, Tallinn will open city-wide admission classes in four transition schools, where Estonian is taught as a first language. One class will follow the Montessori method, and all classes will have a maximum of 20 pupils, allowing for more individualised instruction. This requires additional funding. By 2030, when the transition in basic schools is complete, families with Estonian as their mother tongue could choose former Russian-language schools on the basis of proximity to home. School authorities can prepare for this by making transition schools more attractive to Estonian-speaking families.
Young people with different home languages should be brought together through extracurricular education and sport. The out-of-school environment plays a major role and, in the areas of extracurricular education and youth sport, falls largely within the remit of local governments. One possible funding approach for private extracurricular schools and sports clubs would be to incentivise joint activities among young people with different home languages. Providers that organise mixed-language groups could receive additional funding from local authorities. This would encourage them to recruit teachers and coaches with the necessary linguistic and pedagogical skills to work in such settings. Tallinn will begin implementing this measure in the field of sport from autumn 2025, allocating approximately 2% of its 11 million euro sports budget to the initiative.
