3. TERE! EESTI / ESTONIA Neighbors: Finland, Russia, Latvia, Sweden
Baltic Sea coastline
More than 1,500 islands
Population: 1.3 million
Official Language: Estonian
Independence:
1991-present
(Singing Revolution)
TERE!
Population of Arkansas, for example: 2.9 million (2011)

5. 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 Q2 2012:
10.2%
The oil shale based mining industry, which is also concentrated in East-Estonia, produces around 90% of the entire country's electricity.
Real GDP in Estonia: 8.4% average yearly rate of growth in 2011 vs. 1.5 in Eurozone; As of Oct. 2012: 2.8% in Estonia vs. -0.2% in Eurozone
Estonia's government debt as a percentage of GDP is only 6 percent versus Germany's 81 percent and Greece's 165 percent & U.S. 69.4%
? Unempl. Rate January 2011: 7.6%in Estonia; 10.8% in Eurozone; August 2011: 5.9% in Estonia; 11.4% in Eurozone

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

8. Education s Literacy Rate: 99.8% 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
U.S. Literacy Rate: 99% age 15 and over can read and write (2003 est.)
Estonia: age 15 and over can read and write (2010 census)
US pupil/teacher ratio for public school was 15.4; for private schools 12.5 in 2009.
US pupils/class: 20.0 pupils for public elementary schools and 23.4 pupils for public secondary schools (2007–08)

9. Kohtla-Jarve Ühisgümnaasium

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

11. Teachers’ Day  October 5th 12th 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)

12. Grading/Exams s Grading system at schools: 1 to 5
Koolipäevik (Grading Book?)
Middle School is mandatory education
Middle School or 9th grade graduates have to take
3 Exams (Estonian language&literature and math)
High School or 12th grade graduates have to take
5 Exams: school exams and (at least 3) national exams
U.S. Literacy Rate: 99% age 15 and over can read and write (2003 est.)
Estonia: age 15 and over can read and write (2010 census)

13. 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.

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