As of early June, nearly 20 Tallinn municipal schools want to start the school day earlier in the coming academic year than permitted under a Ministry of Education regulation requiring classes to begin at 9 a.m. or later.
The Tallinn Education Department is currently collecting applications from school boards of trustees that wish to continue starting classes before 9 a.m. Schools must submit their applications by June 12.
“As of Tuesday, we have received fewer than 20 applications, but I believe more will come in,” said Krista Keedus, head of the Education Department’s education management division. Tallinn has 60 municipal schools in total.
Most schools are seeking start times of 8:30 a.m. or 8:45 a.m., though a couple of schools want to begin at 8 a.m. Each application will be assessed individually and must be justified. If a school has clear and well-considered reasons for starting earlier, those circumstances will be taken into account when decisions are made, Keedus explained.
According to Keedus, schools have cited a variety of reasons. “One reason, for example, is that a school operates in two shifts — a morning shift and an afternoon shift. Another is that the start of the school day is staggered by grade level, which may be necessary to spread out lunch breaks and better accommodate students,” she said.
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