Just another schoolday. Thursday 10th June 2010

On the other side of the river, in the middle of the forest we reached Pärnu Vocational School.
The school is only 7 yrs old, and still under extension. It is partly financed by EU. Just now 1300 students are attendíng classes, they have 180 employees, including 118 teachers. In the whole of Estonis there are 27 vocational schools and this school Valdeko Galit (counsellor) proudly told is the biggest in the country. It's a very popular school and last 900 applied, but only 480 were admitted. They have only 17% drop-outs. As in Denmark they have school practical periods as well as practical periods in companies. It seems a little easier to find these kind of trainee agreements as the student doesn't get any salary during the periods - free workers for the companies.

View from students' cafeteria to the left and to the right view from teachers' restroom

Students preparing for exams.

Below you see one of the eager and certainly clever students finishing vocational school.

The assignment

The solution

Graduation

In the afternoon we went 60 km out in the countryside to visit Tõstamaa Kool in one of the cities outside Pärnu. It is a former manor and is now used mainly as a basic- and secondary school, but they also have a museum telling about the history of the house and ancient times.

Yesterday actually the government decided a new legislation that gives many schools some problems and that goes for Tõstamaa too. It means that they on secondary school level have extend their number of curriculums (studieretninger) from 2 - 3 and schools in the countryside are very often too small for that. At the picture you can see the impressive entrance/welcome you meet when you enter.

To the left you see the teachers' workingplaces - a dream for a danish teacher. To the right is a kind of SFO in the historic cellar - mainly for the younger pupils. Although the surroundings are exciting they have their problem with humidity in this deep cellar.