The Ministry of Education and Research has completed a draft regulation, now awaiting feedback, that would shift the start of the school day from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m.

Küllike Nagel, head of studies at Vastseliina High School, told ERR that their school day currently begins at 8:35 a.m., but all classes must be scheduled according to county bus routes. While the timing of student transport services can be adjusted, regular county bus schedules are far less flexible.

Some students arrive at the school building as early as 7 a.m., and for them, a later start time could pose more of a problem.

"I remember when classes started at 9:15 back in the 1980s — buses ran accordingly, but back then the collective farms were still operating and kids were picked up and taken home immediately after school," Nagel recalled.

If the school day does start later, Nagel said changes would also need to be made to extracurricular programs and music schools, which must take into account when regular classes end.

"What worries me is that if parents go to work at eight — or even seven — then what happens in the meantime? But this is something that needs to be discussed," she said.

At Tallinn Secondary School of Science (Tallinna Reaalkool), most classes begin at 8 a.m. School principal Ene Saar noted that first graders start at 9 a.m. and their days are short, with just 20 lessons per week. From ninth grade onward, however, students have six, seven or even eight lessons daily, plus electives — meaning the regulation should consider whether children of all ages should be treated the same way.

"The point of any change should be to involve different interest groups. Schools don't operate in isolation — our students attend hobby schools, music schools, sports clubs and sports academies. We want our children to be well-rounded, and we want formal and non-formal education to be integrated. That means everyone has to be on board, including parents," she explained.

Saar added that she's not opposed to changes, but they must be thoroughly considered and should spark a broader public discussion.

School's experience suggests preparations take time

Tallinn's Gustav Adolf High School (GAG) shifted to a later start time at the beginning of this academic year, with classes now starting at 8:50 a.m. According to the school's principal, Henrik Salum, the change was the result of a long and deliberate planning process that took the entire previous school year to prepare.

"Our experience this academic year has been positive," Salum confirmed, noting that they have not received a significant amount of negative feedback — though he added that results from the annual spring satisfaction survey, which this year will focus in part on the new start time, are not yet available.

To prevent the school day from running too late, GAG adjusted the structure of its contact lessons. The school now uses a mix of 40-minute lessons, 80-minute double lessons and 90-minute practical sessions.

"I think the idea that learning only happens during traditional contact lessons is a bit outdated. Schools now offer a wide range of activities within the school day and teachers need additional time for those as well," Salum said. "Research projects, creative assignments, educational films in our case, various academic track projects — even events — all of this is learning and we look at it as a whole to make sure it fits into the school day."

The school had also considered a 9 a.m. start time, but ultimately chose 8:50 a.m. because the eighth period would then end at 3:40 p.m. — a time they felt still allowed students to participate in extracurricular activities afterward.

Salum acknowledged that, since this is the first year under the new schedule, there are certainly things that need to be improved or changed. For example, more and more teachers are expressing a preference for 80-minute double lessons. In any case, he emphasized that implementing such changes takes a lot of time and it's difficult for schools to overhaul their daily and academic schedules in time for the start of the school year on September 1.

Lunch periods already longer than required in many schools

The draft regulation also proposes extending the lunch break from the current minimum of 15 minutes to 20 minutes. This time does not include the period it takes to walk to the cafeteria or for food to be served.

Vastseliina High School does not see the extended lunch break as a problem, as theirs already lasts 20 to 25 minutes. According to Küllike Nagel, the school also meets the proposed requirement for a minimum three-hour gap between meals. At their school, there is a morning porridge break at 9:20 a.m. after the first lesson, where students can buy a portion of porridge for 20 cents.

"A good number of students have porridge in the morning," said Nagel. "Those who eat porridge have lunch at 12:20 and those who skip the morning porridge eat lunch at 11:20."

At Tallinn Secondary School of Science, lunch breaks have already been 30 minutes long for many years. Ene Saar said this is possible thanks to a flexible daily schedule — some students are in class while others are eating. However, implementing such an arrangement requires careful planning.

Saar found it puzzling that the regulation sets a required meal time length that excludes the time spent getting to the cafeteria and serving the food. In her view, this could lead to having to measure those time segments separately, whereas it would make more sense to simply define the lunch break as 25 minutes in the regulation.

In summary, Saar said the responsibility now lies with schools to communicate these changes to parents, and parents in turn will have to think about how to adjust their daily routines.

"There's definitely plenty to discuss, and it seems the winds of change are blowing strongly for us," Saar remarked.

Since Vastseliina High School has not yet discussed the changes — teachers are currently busy with training during the school break — Nagel said it remains to be seen whether any other adjustments will be needed in school life. First, the topic will be discussed with teachers, then with the school board, which will pass the information on to parents. The school also plans to collect data on when students typically arrive.

"We'll need to go over every point carefully to find the optimal setup," said Nagel.

The Ministry of Education has sent the draft regulation out to partners for approval and is accepting feedback until May 7. The regulation is scheduled to take effect on September 1 of this year.

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