Classes to Start at Tallinn's New European School
Tallinn's European School is being opened today, with 75 students registered to start in September.
Establishing the school was a condition of bringing the EU's IT agency headquarters to Tallinn, the school's director, Olavi Otepalu, told ERR News.
The private school, offering nursery through secondary education, is founded foremost for the children of people working for the EU, but also caters to diplomats and employees of international organizations.
The primary language of instruction is English, but French is also offered at the nursery school level. Language courses are also offered in German, Finnish, Italian, Spanish, and more languages will be available upon demand.
The school's secondary level fees amount to 4,500 euros per year - much cheaper than at the Tallinn International School, which is another school for foreigners living in Estonia; fees for the latter's secondary school program reach nearly 18,000 euros per year. The European school's fees will only cover a fraction of its cost, though, as it is receiving major government support.
The European Baccalaureate diploma offered by the European School has a slightly higher qualification than the regular Estonian high school diploma.
Minister of Education Jaak Aaviksoo will be among others in attendance at the opening of the school today.
The school's director Otepalu has previously worked in administrative positions at schools in Saue, Rocca al Mare and Tallinn.