In Saaremaa, most people start work at 8 a.m. and the school day also begins at either 8:00 or 8:30. Pushing the school start time to 9 a.m. would mean that schoolchildren would need to be transported separately.

"This change could affect more than 20 percent of the entire public transport network, which means our procurement agreement wouldn't allow for it. We'd have to bring in additional buses, not to mention how much all of this could end up costing us," said Kaarel Tang, Saaremaa's deputy rural municipality mayor.

Currently, many school bus stops are literally at roadside junctions, but under the new regulation, municipalities would be required to build proper bus stops at those locations.

"There are approximately 140 such stops in Saaremaa municipality and building one stop costs around €2,000. You can do the math — this would be quite a significant expense for the municipality," Tang added.

Saaremaa is not alone in facing challenges. The Association of Estonian Cities and Municipalities needed six pages to outline the issues with the proposed regulation. For instance, the association is baffled by why the same safety requirements apply equally to elementary schools and high schools, such as safeguards to prevent children from getting their fingers caught in windows or doors.

"But from a municipal perspective, the biggest issue is the change in the school day's start time — a matter that requires extensive negotiations and preparations. The draft proposal suggests this can all be agreed upon and implemented within three to four months. Unfortunately, that's just not how it works," said Robert Lippin, education adviser for the Association of Cities and Municipalities.

According to Lippin, the proposed change demands additional funding, thorough groundwork and negotiations not only with parents.

"Employers also have to think about how to reorganize their shifts and adjust to a different start time. This is a broader discussion — cone that can't be completed in three months," he added.

Today, the Ministry of Education also acknowledged that the delayed school start time will likely be postponed.

"Precisely because there's so little time to implement this, I can say with confidence today that more time will likely be given. Not everything needs to be in place and completed by September 1," said Marjeta Venno, head of the curriculum department at the Ministry of Education.

While students are generally pleased with the idea of a later school start, they're unhappy about doing away with cold-weather days off and letting go of regulations on backpack weight. But their biggest concern is the removal of limits on scheduled tests.

"This essentially creates a situation where a test or something similar could be scheduled in every class on a single day. That's not supportive in terms of workload or students' mental health," said Karl Erik Kirss, president of the Estonian School Student Councils' Union.

The Ministry of Education defends scrapping the test rule by saying it was a pointless regulation that wasn't being followed anyway.

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