"Next year, the budget for the local elementary school support measure will be reduced, as the number of schools receiving support is projected to decrease," said ministry spokesperson Mari Annus. "A new application round will open in January 2025."

In this year's application round, 14 local governments were awarded a total of €1.3 million in grants for the operation of 18 schools. This year's budget, however, had been €3 million, meaning that more than half of the budgeted funding remained unallocated.

The measure's budget for next year will be reduced by €1 million.

"The budget for next year's application round is €2 million, and the terms of the round will also be specified by the new year," Annus noted. "The corresponding draft is currently under review."

Estonia's Education Strategy 2021-2035 stipulates that the local government responsible for organizing basic education must ensure access to local schools for at least the first and second stages of basic education – i.e. grades 1-3 and 4-6, respectively.

The support measure for local elementary schools was agreed upon in the government's coalition agreement for the years 2023-2027.

The goal of the measure is to motivate local governments to reorganize their school networks by promoting the establishment and operation of local schools and locations for grades 1-6, thereby encouraging the consolidation of third-stage education to larger municipal centers. This measure was intended to continue for the next three years.

A local government may apply for financial support via this measure if a local elementary school or location has between 18-89 students enrolled in regular education, and if the school is not located in a city or town, or within the same settlement as another municipal general education school.

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