After the Ukrainian-only new Freedom School hit capacity, schools in Tallinn were initially concerned whether they could manage to squeeze all older school-aged Ukrainian children into other classrooms. Since then, however, all nearly 1,500 students to apply for school in the Estonian capital have since been enrolled.
Some Tallinn schools are hoping that the coronavirus pandemic does not lead to a situation where children accepted into the first grade for next academic year are done so on the basis of residence, rather than through passing an entrance exam as is normally the case.
While schools that do run entrance exams for first graders, really rather more reasoning tests, but still requiring literacy – including Tallinn English School and the Old Town Educational College – do so in the first half of February, with a view to the capital s board of education getting its lists of admissions by March 1, the pandemic has caused problems in terms of adhering to coronavirus best practices and often-changing regulations.