Successful education reform in Estonia provides blueprint for Moldova

Author: Marian Männi

Estonia’s education system has become a point of reference in Moldova’s wider reform debate. Not only through development cooperation projects, but also at the policy level.

In November 2025, Moldova’s minister of Education and Research, Dan Perciun, made a public statement saying that all Moldovan mathematics textbooks, from grade 1 to 12, will be replaced with Estonian textbooks. Perciun said it was time to end local experiments and adopt approaches that have already proven effective. “The curriculum,” he added, “will follow the Estonian model.”

The plan is part of a broader curriculum reform aimed to be finished by 2027, with EU support for acquiring the textbooks.

The textbook decision is an example of how Moldova is using Estonia’s know-how to reform its education. And reforms are clearly needed.

According to the global PISA test results, around half of Moldovan pupils have below minimum knowledge of math. In contrast, Estonia is a top performer, ranking first in Europe and among the best in the world. 

“Estonia has succeeded tremendously in this vein,” Maha Damaj, UNICEF’s Moldova representative said. “So [Estonian experts] are not only bringing their experience, but also their lessons learned and things to avoid so that the path for Moldova could potentially be even shorter.” 

Partnering with the Estonian Centre for International Development (ESTDEV), UNICEF supported intermediate and advanced level Estonian digital competence training for teachers. Tallinn University researchers developed a three-level programme called DigiProf based on the European Digital Competence Framework for Educators, and then adapted it for Moldovan teachers.

From pilot to scale

“Through our cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Research of Moldova, UNICEF, and academic partners, we are advancing digital capacity at all levels of Moldova's education system, from policy to classroom practice,” said Kristi Kulu, ESTDEV’s programme manager for Education. “Together, we are piloting and scaling Estonian initiatives which help schools and teachers assess, plan, and grow their digital competence.”

According to Kulu, these tools are key to developing a more future-ready, resilient education system.

In the DigiProf programme, teachers are taught to use digital platforms for planning lessons and assessing students. They are also encouraged to use digital tools to “flip” their classrooms, letting students learn new topics independently and then come to school for hands-on activities, discussion and analysis. 

After successfully completing the training programme, teachers will pass on their knowledge to colleagues across the country. Kulu estimates that by the end of this year, 7,500 Moldovan teachers will have enhanced their digital skills.

By digitalising education, what is going on in the schools becomes more transparent and manageable, allowing for more data-based decision-making, according to Professor Mart Laanpere, one of the creators of DigiProf.

A seminar in November brought together many teachers and education innovators in Moldova’s capital. Photo credit: UNICEF

New tool measures digitalisation efforts at the school level

Estonian education experts also created Digipeegel, or Digital Mirror, a special digital maturity self-assessment tool for Moldovan schools. Forty schools have completed the pilot, and eventually, the method is expected to reach every school in Moldova to help monitor the digital transformation at the school level, to “assess, plan and grow digital competence" as Kulu pointed out.

Digital Mirror is “designed to measure how the entire school functions digitally, not just the sum of individual teacher or student competencies,” Laanpere said.

An IT teacher who participated in the pilot, Elena Gurita, said that without an initial evaluation tool, planning was done “in an intuitive way”. Digital Mirror allows planning to be carried out based on clear evidence.

Estonian education innovator Mart Laanpere believes that digital tools bring more data and transparency to education, making it easier to see what works and what doesn’t. Digital skills allow teachers to “flip” their classrooms, so that pupils can learn on their own and then use classroom time to discuss and collaborate. Photo credit: UNICEF

Teachers no longer lug home piles of papers

In spring, 1,500 primary school students in Moldova took their first-ever math e-exam. The results were positive: over 90 percent of students achieved “very good” or “good” results. Next year, thousands more children will take e-tests to assess their Romanian language and science skills.

It’s not just more interesting for the students to take tests online, but it’s a way to ease the workload of teachers, too. “Most of my colleagues still carry heavy stacks of papers back and forth between home and school,” Gurita said. 

Her students now get their results instantly, and disputes with parents have disappeared. “Thanks to virtual classrooms, I never physically take schoolwork home with me,” she said.

According to primary school teacher Olesea Iovu, students have started to expect learning to move to screens. “The world is changing, and teachers must keep up with the times,” Iovu said. Olesea believes that gadgets and screens increase student motivation, though she admits it is still too early to see a clear impact on learning outcomes.

But there is resistance, too. One IT teacher said that not all parents and students agreed to take part in digital exams. There were technical issues. Some tablets did not work properly, and there were not enough school computers for everyone. In the end, some parents sent their own laptops to school with their children.

These initial challenges are not unexpected, as real reform requires consistent development over time. “Change does not happen overnight. It requires strong leadership, cooperation and, most importantly, trust,” said Kulu.

Kristi Kulu, ESTDEV’s programme manager for Education, believes that trust is fundamental to bring together many partners and make real changes in education.  Photo credit: UNICEF

Small budget, big effect

Moldova has been a priority country for Estonian development cooperation for two decades, but the small country’s resources remain limited. As of September 2023, Moldova has received 10.4 million euros in Estonian development cooperation funding since 2000.

But to increase their impact, Estonians work together with other organisations and funds, proving that even with smaller budgets, meaningful change is possible. And just like Estonia’s own experience has proved, starting with education is the first and the most important step.

“Broader changes in society largely begin with deep changes in education,” said Professor Laanpere, who has been visiting Moldova since 2009 and is one of the reform leaders there. “But if we want to speed up these changes, technology can make it happen.”

Estonia’s education reforms over the past two decades have focused on combining curriculum reform with early and consistent use of digital tools, teacher training and data-based decision-making. 

Starting in the early 2000s, Estonia combined curriculum reform with early investment in digital tools and continuous teacher training. These efforts contributed to strong results in international assessments, including top PISA rankings in math, science and reading in 2022.

Laanpere believes that if this idea worked in Estonia, it will likely work in Moldova as well.

“My colleagues who show reluctance to digitalisation still have a bag full of notebooks that they carry home and bring back to school," said Elena Gurita, an IT teacher in Theoretical Lyceum “Gaudeamus”.  Photo credit: UNICEF