Riigikogu discussed the Human Development Report on education as a matter of significant national importance
At today’s plenary sitting, the Riigikogu discussed “The Estonian Human Development Report 2026. Education in the mirror of society“ as a matter of significant national importance, initiated by the Cultural Affairs Committee.
Chair of the Cultural Affairs Committee Liina Kersna gave an introductory presentation. According to her, the quality and accessibility of education directly affect the functioning of society.
“The level of education of our people determines how wisely we function as a society. For example, the Estonian Human Development Report points out that people with higher education are the most oriented towards innovation and achievement. They are also more eager to learn and actively contribute to society with their knowledge. Furthermore, they are healthier and live longer, not to mention the fact that the more educated people earn higher salaries,” said Kersna.
According to her, it is wise to offer the most equal access possible to the best possible education. “Fortunately, the latest Human Development Report also states that the average educational results of local municipalities vary to only a small extent, and good education can be obtained in any municipality. However, signs of growing inequality are evident, and this requires political attention,” said Kersna.
The Chair of the Cultural Affairs Committee pointed out that before initiating change, there had to be a shared understanding of why the change was being undertaken, and the willingness to implement it. “It is important to have the knowledge of how to implement the change, and the capacity to do so. If there is no willingness, resistance arises; if there is no knowledge, anxiety and fear arise; if there is no capacity, frustration arises.”
“The Human Development Report draws attention to the abundance of research in the field of education, which somehow remains unused. I do not agree that there is too much research, but I do agree that there should first be a study or studies, based on which change should be planned. Too often, however, it is the other way round: first we come up with a change, and, at best, we commission a study afterwards. We should rely much more on knowledge-based approach to develop this sphere,” she said.
Kersna confirmed that a trusting relationship between the learner and the teacher was the basis for learning. She also noted that, on the one hand, learning was a social process that required a safe and supportive environment as well as peers with whom to face challenges and create new knowledge; on the other hand, it was a deeply individual, even intimate journey taking place within each learner.
Editor-in-chief of the Estonian Human Development Report 2026, Eneli Kindsiko said in her presentation that education was not meant only for the labour market. However, it should not be considered separately from the labour market and the skills necessary to get by in life. “If education fails to support a person’s opportunity to live a healthy, secure and dignified life, their mental and cultural aspirations also remain fragile,” she said.
Kindsiko stressed that education was not the responsibility of kindergartens or schools alone. “Education is shaped through the synergy of the whole society and takes place also outside school – in professional life, communities, families, and institutions. For this reason, researchers and practitioners from a wide range of specialisations, from educational scientists and psychologists to economists and criminologists, were involved in the drafting of the report” Kindsiko said. According to her, the report gives a voice to children and adults, teachers and school headmasters, politicians and policy-makers.
Kindsiko spoke about the increasing inequality in education. She said that children’s academic results depended increasingly on parents’ income, and that educational stratification was particularly evident in Tallinn. “Academic literature increasingly refers to schools’ resources. Schools can both reduce and deepen educational inequality,” she said, stressing the role of a good subject teacher.
According to Kindsiko, the educational gap exists not only among children but also among adults. She pointed out that highly educated women were the most eager to continue their education, whereas those who most needed it were the less educated, the elderly and men. Kindsiko added that the consequences of the educational gap would later appear in police statistics, domestic violence figures and growing social and healthcare costs. “The cost of the educational gap does not remain within the education system. It reaches the state budget.”
According to the editor-in-chief of the report, a lot of our knowledge remains unused. “The abundance of research is not a weakness. It is unused potential,” she said and stressed that the important thing was not the number of reforms but for each reform to be preceded by an impact analysis. She also pointed out that in education the state had to use all of its e-governance potential, overcome data fragmentation, and use the existing data in order to identify problems at an early stage. She added that while assigning new tasks to education, it was also important to give up the old ones so that education would function as a comprehensive development environment.
Mihkel Solvak, Associate Professor of Technology Research at the University of Tartu Institute of Political Studies, said that Estonia had very good registries, each of which could appear limited in information if viewed individually. However, this concern can be resolved by combining several registries. “Combining them can produce results that are already very close to what could be a very specific and costly research study,” Solvak noted. For this reason, according to him, we could use what we already have, merge more registries, and link them to research studies.
Solvak pointed out that studies conducted contained recurring questions. We could move towards a situation where no separate research would be commissioned if data could be obtained from registries. “For certain issues, this is actually the most reasonable way to solve the problem,” Solvak said. He suggested that data could be presented in a dynamic report, where they would be automatically updated based on the registries.
Solvak pointed out that in terms of mathematics performance, Estonia was very strong in international comparison, also according to PISA results. “But what can we actually see there? There is a bit of polarisation. This means that the average may remain the same but different peaks begin to emerge,” Solvak said. “There is a funny saying in statistics: if your head is in the fridge and your feet are in the oven, on average you feel fine,” he said, pointing out that the average could be misleading.
According to Solvak, the link between children’s mathematics performance and their parents’ income is exactly the kind of graph where data points could be automatically added every year. He noted that the report contained a lot of analytical knowledge, and could certainly create tangible, lasting value, so that the results could be subject to future dynamic monitoring. “This is a relatively quick and inexpensive activity, considering how costly it is to conduct studies,” he said.
Mario Truu, a judge at the Tartu Circuit Court of Appeal, also gave a presentation. He spoke about education-related issues that significantly affect risky behaviour in minors. He said that the Human Development Report conveyed the message that risky behaviour in young people was closely related to their daily schedule, the presence of supervision, and their sense of belonging.
Truu pointed out that a large share of young people’s communication had moved to social media. “One in five young people in Estonia has allegedly experienced what can generally be termed as cyberviolence,” Truu noted, adding that schools were therefore even more important, increasingly becoming one of the few places where young people met and communicated in person.
Truu pointed out that it was important to ensure students remained in the education system. “An educational path extending beyond basic education significantly reduces the risk of committing crimes in adulthood,” he said.
He stated that the Human Development Report identified the link between the school environment and risky behaviour among young people. “A safe and supportive school environment is the important factor that considerably reduces risky behaviour among young people. Young people who feel safe at school and have a strong attachment to it are about one-third less likely to commit an offence than young people who have a weaker attachment to school.”
The speaker pointed out that the key risk windows were the end of the school day and weekend night hours, and that one of the most important measures for preventing adolescent risky behaviour was extracurricular education. “Extracurricular education that is attractive for young people creates a safe environment and supervision during the critical afternoon hours. Extracurricular education supports the development of young people’s values and social skills, creates a sense of belonging, stimulates interest in acquiring and developing skills, and increases motivation to learn,” he said. “The problem, however, is that extracurricular education is mainly attended by younger children, while the need for prevention is the greatest among teenagers.”
In conclusion, Truu stated that unequal access to support services and extracurricular activities was a problem in education. In addition, there is a shortage of support specialists. The level and capacity of staff working with children is uneven across the country, and teachers lack resources for preventive work with minors. However, parents may lack the means to support their children. Therefore, according to him, it is necessary to help ensure that children have a more equal access to existing services, including extracurricular education. Attention should also be paid to parent education and the cooperation between home and school.
Madis Kallas, Tiit Maran and Lauri Läänemets from the Social Democratic Party Group; Kadri Tali from the Estonia 200 Parliamentary Group; Tõnis Lukas and Urmas Reinsalu from Isamaa Parliamentary Group; Margit Sutrop from the Estonian Reform Party Parliamentary Group, and Vadim Belobrovtsev from the Estonian Centre Party Parliamentary Group took the floor during the debate.
The second reading of the Human Genes Research Bill (749 SE), initiated by the Government, was deferred due to the end of the working hours of the sitting.
Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian)
Photos (Merje Meisalu / Chancellery of the Riigikogu)
Video recording will be later available on the Riigikogu YouTube channel.
Riigikogu Press Service
Merilin Kruuse
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