Estonia Maive Sinijärv

About Estonia Estonia is the northernmost Baltic State and with a population of only one point four million, it is also the smallest On twenty August nineteen ninety one Estonia re- established independence The capital city is Tallinn Thirty eight point seven percent of Estonia is forested, and ten percent of the country is a nature reserve The president is Toomas Hendrik Ilves

Estonian flag Blue presents Estonian’s sky Black presents Estonian’s past and earth White presents our hope and clear conscience

Facts about Estonia Estonia is often called the “singing nation”, song festivals are really national and important events The main religion in Estonia is Lutheran Estonians are reputed to be stubborn and tend not to be impressed by others’ social standing Estonians are into reading in a big way - our country has the third highest literacy rate in the world Ernest Hemingway wrote that in every port in the world, at least one Estonian can be found It never goes completely dark at night in Estonia from the beginning of May to the end of July

About my job I am the principal of kindergarten There are eighty children and twenty employees in my kindergarten The kindergarten is located in Rõngu Rõngu community is small – there are two thousand people Rõngu kindergarten is budgetary institution – majority of costs is paid by Rõngu commune A little part is paid by parents

Daily routine in Rõngu Kindergarten There are children age 2-7 years in kindergarten The day begins at seven o’clock Children will get three warm meals during the day Sleeping hours are one o’clock to three o’clock In our kindergarten is really important healthy life style Teachers are doing outside travels with children to explore beautiful nature Also children will play outside as often as possible Children are picked up by parents at half past five

Education in kindergarten Kindergarten will give primary education for children Children will study reckoning with numbers one to ten Also they study reading But maybe even more important is that children will communicate with others and will study how to solve problems After finishing Rõngu Kindergarten at age seven children will attend Rõngu Secondary School

Rõngu Secondary School There are about two hundreds students in Rõngu Secondary School Rõngu Secondary School and also other schools in Estonia are divided into three levels: elementary school (1. to 4. forms); basic school (5. to 9. forms) and Secondary school (10. to 12. forms) In Rõngu Secondary School are two different study directions: 1) nature 2) The Nordic countries culture and Norwegian By the way, Rõngu Secondary School has a friend school in Norway - HobØl Ungdomsskole

Education after Secondary or Basic school Some students want to start studying profession after Basic school After Basic school but also after a Secondary school is possible to attend in vocational school – it is the place where to study profession But of course some students want go university In university students can attend after they have finished secondary school Tartu University in Estonia is quite approved in Europe

Studying a profession in Estonia In university is possible to choose between academic higher education or practical higher education Academic higher education is connected with science and theoretical knowledge Practical higher education is connected with specific profession and skills Academic higher education enables to participate on scientific activity With practical higher education comes a specific profession and student can start to earn money right after finishing the university

Thank you for your attention!