Tallinn Planning to Merge 12 Schools
The Tallinn City Government has said it is planning to merge twelve schools into six over the next two years as maintaining small classes is no longer economically viable.
Deputy mayor Mihhail Kõlvart told Postimees on Tuesday that the state is planning to cut funding for schools, and that having classes of fewer than 32 pupils at the secondary school level and 24 on primary school level will no longer make economic sense.
He said that the city government's plan for the school system is still in the development phase, but the next step is to merge eight schools currently running at half capacity into four in 2014, and four more into two next year, including a one school that has slightly over a hundred students.
According to statistics from the city's Education Department, there are 65 primary and secondary schools in Tallinn. The total number of pupils has dropped by 800 in the last five years to 39,900.