TERE! EESTI / ESTONIA Neighbors: Finland, Russia, Latvia, Sweden Baltic Sea coastline More than 1,500 islands Population: 1.3 million Official Language: Estonian Independence: 1918-1940 1991-present (Singing Revolution) TERE! Population of Arkansas, for example: 2.9 million (2011)

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

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

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)

Kohtla-Jarve Ühisgümnaasium

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

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)

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)

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.

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.