Estonia is the youngest educational center in Europe, which excelled in the Pisa test.

This country surpassed major European economies, including Great Britain, in the global test of the level of education, Telegrafi reports.

The Pisa tests measure the ability of 15-year-olds to apply their skills and knowledge to solving real-life problems in reading, mathematics and science.

The OECD has developed these tests since 2000, and countries with middle and high incomes have participated in it. The latest results were presented on Tuesday.

In the Pisa results published in 2016, Estonia ranked third in science, while the UK ranked 15th, while in reading, Estonia ranked sixth - a far cry from the UK's 22nd place.

Great Britain's education spending is relatively high compared to the average spent by large economies, but the same does not happen with this small Baltic state.

Estonia has increased the level of education, having made it a priority many years ago.

Kindergarten from the age of three

It was time to send the children to the Kelmikula Kindergarten in the capital Tallinn.

Mothers Kristin Talvik and Elvira Uustalu, both have six-year-old children, in the oldest group.

This means they will start compulsory schooling next year, at the age of seven, so parents rely on kindergarten to prepare them.

"Learning will be very fast, so they should be prepared, ask questions to the teachers, raise their hand, be brave", said Kristin.

"The most important thing is that they are ready for society."

Almost every child in Estonia goes to kindergarten from the age of three, or even earlier.

Parents must make a contribution, but it is included as a percentage of the minimum wage.

So, for mothers Kristin and Elvira, this means up to €80 per month per child.

"Willing to learn"

Kindergartens expect children to learn through teacher-directed play, with some more formal lessons introduced gradually.

Elvira says education is important, but "it's also important to do it in a way that they enjoy."

Here Estonia set out to level the achievement of all children, ensuring that they are ready to learn both emotionally and physically.

According to the Pisa tests, this result is a smaller gap between the rich and the poor by the time they are teenagers.

Kindergarten director Riina Lall says they don't classify children based on tests before they leave.

"Children receive a school readiness card that outlines their abilities, their development, and what they need to do more of."

This is a world away from England, where at a similar age children prepare for their first national trials in Years 1 and 2.

Students take phonics tests in year 1, and standardized tests in reading, writing and maths in year 2.

Estonia's system is quite different, but by the age of 15, its pupils are significantly outperforming those in Great Britain in every area of ​​the Pisa tests.

Why Estonia brings all skill levels together

In Estonia, basic education is in schools where students stay from seven to 16 years old, with some students staying to prepare for higher studies.

Rando Kuustik is the director of the Jakob Westholmi high school in the Estonian capital, with nearly 1,000 students and a staff of 80 employees.

"If you teach them at different skill levels, you separate them. Why would we do that in schools?"

He explained that every subject in his school is taught for all abilities.

Placing students into different groups, by subject or general attainment, known as groups or streams in the UK, is very rare in Estonia.

Teachers are expected to find ways to level students from all backgrounds within a few years.

While there is a national curriculum, very few schools are accountable through results.

Aiming for Nordic standards

Teachers have a relatively high level of freedom to take risks with how they design lessons, says Rando Kuustik.

"I think the teachers are the main reason for such good success, with the freedom to teach how they want and the students who are eager to learn."

When Estonia became independent from Russia, it looked to Finland for its form of education.

Education and Research Minister Mailis Reps says they aimed for the Nordic level of quality, which comes at a cost.

Apart from kindergarten, parents are not obliged to contribute.

"Free in Estonia, it really means free. You don't pay for textbooks. You don't pay for school lunches, you don't pay for school transportation."

Education, the minister says, has always been valued in Estonia, but now it is in the context of an entrepreneurial and rapidly developing economy.

"So what we have today is a tradition of studying a lot, similar to Asian countries. We study for many hours."

This means, a constant debate between parents, if there is too much homework.

For all e-school

Students are growing up in an environment where technology comes first.

Now even voting for general elections is becoming digital.

Martin explains that they have an electronic school system, whereby much of the work and homework is done and graded online.

Books can also be borrowed electronically, which helps with the large amount of work they expect to do at home.

"As a small country, maybe we feel like we have to prove ourselves. We have to be educated to move forward," says Katja.

However, there will be changes in the future.

The government is trying to persuade more schools to test pupils at ages 10, 13 and 16 to track their progress.

It will have to balance this against the very high level of freedom that schools have now.

There are also major challenges, as most Estonian teachers are approaching retirement and although there are young people joining education, the numbers are not that great.

In a system that highly values ​​teachers, it is the biggest risk to sustaining the tremendous progress that has been made so far. /Telegraph/

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