Study identifies how Estonia’s education system can inspire education reforms in other countries

ESTDEV commissioned the study last year to take a closer look at how the Estonian school model can support education reforms in other countries. We sat down with ESTDEV’s programme manager for Education, Kristi Kulu and one of the study's authors, Marleen Allemann, to go over the results of the study. 

Check out the full version of the study here (in Estonian). 

How did the idea for this study come about? What prompted it? 

Kristi Kulu (KK): Estonian education is internationally known for its strong PISA results, digital capacity and long-standing reform experience. In recent years, interest in the Estonian education model has grown significantly. At the same time, at ESTDEV, we felt the need to move beyond individual projects towards a more systematic, programme-based approach to education development cooperation. 

The study was commissioned to better understand whether and how Estonia's educational strengths can be applied in development cooperation and to determine the level of interest and capacity among Estonian partners to participate in international education projects. An equally important goal was to raise awareness of education development cooperation as a field with great potential and to open up opportunities for broader engagement—from the public sector, educational institutions, NGOs and businesses. 

We wanted research-based input to help shape education development cooperation into a more clearly defined field of activity and to support a smarter, more thoughtful application of Estonia's experience in partner countries. 

What do the results show? How applicable is the Estonian school model in development cooperation? 

Marleen Allemann (MA): As the title of the report suggests, the Estonian school model can serve as inspiration for partner countries, but copying the model one-to-one and implementing it in its entirety elsewhere is not realistic. Education systems differ from country to country, so approaches must be needs-based and context-specific. For example, one distinctive feature of Estonia's school system is autonomy, something that often does not exist in the same form in development cooperation target countries, which makes direct implementation more difficult. 

However, certain elements of the Estonian model, such as curriculum development or the organisation of teacher education, can certainly be adapted to the context of partner countries. 

We also want to emphasise that the Estonian school model, per se, even if not fully transferable, is still important. It helps tell a coherent story about Estonian education, thereby inspiring target countries. For use in international education activities, including development cooperation, the model still needs further development to yield practical product and service packages that build on the strengths of Estonia's education system and the capacities of local implementation partners. From these, target countries could choose solutions best suited to them. 

Which education products and services have the greatest export potential from a development cooperation perspective? 

MA: Interviews conducted during the study highlighted the professionalism of teachers and school leaders, curriculum development, digital capacity, strong early childhood education and reform experience as key strengths of the Estonian school model. Various implementation partners are already successfully working in these areas. 

In addition to offering various educational technology solutions, Estonia can provide consulting services to developing countries—for example, in strategy development, digitalisation of education or broader education reform. It can also implement school leadership development programmes, support curriculum development (including teacher training) and enhance teachers' competencies, such as digital skills. These areas have generated—and continue to generate—interest from other countries. 

Looking ahead, more focus could also be placed on the social dimension of education: reducing inequality, including vulnerable groups, supporting mental health and well-being, and linking education to broader societal and development goals. 

The greatest potential lies not in individual products or technological solutions, but in knowledge, skills, and implementation models that support gradual and context-based change. In many target countries, low-threshold interventions, practical tools, and step-by-step transition models are especially valuable—approaches that do not require immediate large-scale digital transformation. This applies to career education, entrepreneurship and employability skills, mental health and well-being, as well as the creative industries and STEM fields—all identified by study participants as promising areas for future education development cooperation. 

What is the current capacity of Estonia's education development cooperation partner network, and what is its growth potential? 

MA: The study clearly shows that Estonia has experienced, competent implementation partners with well-established networks and strong cooperation relationships both domestically and in development cooperation target countries. 

As education development cooperation is a growing field, the partner network's growth potential is significant as well. However, this requires that education development cooperation become more widely recognised as an exciting and self-development–enabling field among education professionals and the broader public. Currently, limited and often overcommitted human resources constrain engagement. For example, more education practitioners, such as school leaders and teachers, could be involved in development cooperation activities. 

In addition to raising awareness, empowering implementation partners is crucial, both strategically and through concrete support measures. The study revealed that implementation partners expect the Ministry of Education and Research to play a more active role in providing substantive education expertise and political direction. Clear national priorities by target country are also considered important to give partners a more coherent overall picture. 

Furthermore, to realise growth potential, the national business and innovation agency must recognise education as a distinct growth area in Estonia's international value proposition and provide targeted support and capacity-building measures for both education development cooperation and education export. 

The study also examined Finland's principles and practices in education development cooperation. What can Estonia learn from elsewhere? 

MA: In 2018, Finland published an evaluation report on education development cooperation, concluding that to be a globally influential actor in this field, strategic leadership is needed along with stronger alignment between development cooperation and other international education activities, and better stakeholder collaboration. 

It can be said that Estonia's education development cooperation is currently at a stage similar to Finland's in 2018. 

We could certainly learn from what Finland has done since then: investing in multi-stakeholder cooperation formats and developing a comprehensive ecosystem and establishing a dedicated education and development expertise centre (FinCEED) that manages a database of education experts to strengthen capacity and expertise in the sector. 

It is also worth learning from how Finland views education export and education development cooperation as closely interconnected and strategically planned together, even though their goals and methods differ. 

In short, Finland's example shows that much depends on multi-stakeholder cooperation and the contribution of different actors towards a shared goal. One can only hope that in Estonia, too, greater value will be placed on joint efforts for a broader objective and on shared responsibility, rather than each actor limiting themselves to their own small "segment" of work. 

What were the most important findings of the study from a development cooperation perspective? 

KK: A key conclusion was that Estonia's impact is greater when its experience is shared as an honest development story rather than as a ready-made solution. In development cooperation, approaches that support gradual change and take into account the target country's actual capacity and needs are more effective. 

Geographically, Estonia's education solutions are most easily adaptable in Eastern Partnership countries, while in the African context, the potential is more long-term and requires stronger local partnerships and realistic time horizons. 

From ESTDEV's perspective, the study confirms the importance of the current approach: project design must be based primarily on the needs of the target country and focus on clearly defined areas of competence, such as teacher training, school leadership development, curriculum and instructional reform or digital pedagogy. 

The study also highlights the importance of the preparatory phase. Before intervening, it is essential to thoroughly assess local preconditions, risks and sustainability, so that pilot projects do not remain isolated experiments but instead lay the foundation for long-term change. 

The study further emphasised that Estonia has motivated implementation partners, but education development cooperation requires deliberate collaboration, realistic expectations and clear role division within projects. This continues to guide ESTDEV in investing in high-quality project preparation, close partner cooperation and practical tools for assessing the impact and sustainability of interventions. 

In conclusion, the study shows that Estonian education has strong potential in development cooperation. However, realising this potential requires purposeful, context-aware and long-term implementation focusing on where Estonia's experience can genuinely support change in partner countries' education systems.