Summary

This paper is on the most pressing matter in Estonia at present. The point is that very few people in Estonia can say how many and what kind of higher schools there are in Estonia at present. So far higher education has been at the mercy of politicians and every new government has started to draft its own bill of developing higher education and conception of higher schools.

There are many alternatives of higher education offered in Estonia today. The process is to be welcomed, but it is clear that the alternative schools should be formed according to certain rules.

The Law on Education in Estonia was adopted on March 23, 1992. The Law is of little use for higher schools because of its declarative nature, its illogical structure and inconsistencies.

A new Bill of higher education includes ways of founding, re–organizing and dissolution of higher schools, a legal foundation for higher school activities, limits of university autonomy, standards and conditions for higher education and other essential points.

Although the Bill has been approved by foreign expertise, the author of this article has much apprehension of the Bill never becoming a law, as the Riigikogu has already adopted the law on Private Schools. According to this Law, the only things needed to start a private school are a permit from the local authorities and a schooling licence from the Ministry of Culture and Education. The essential document is the school's curriculum. The Ministry has no right to inspect the school with the aim of establishing the level of teaching, the quality of tuition given and other essential indexes, and yet the graduates will be given diplomas that are considered equal to diplomas issued by other higher schools in Estonia.