All pupils have the right to live at home, study with their peers in their school of residence, and receive a quality education. Inclusion in education means that every child must be provided with an education tailored to their abilities and needs. To do this, the educational institution must work with the family to identify the circumstances affecting or hindering the child’s learning. Such a hindrance could be a persistent illness or a medical condition that prevents the child from coping with everyday life.

If the necessary educational arrangements differ from the usual ones, they must be implemented for only as long as strictly necessary. Even during periods of non-standard educational arrangements, the child’s connection with their peers must be maintained. When circumstances that affect or hinder learning change, the educational arrangement must also change if the current one is no longer appropriate.

The educational institution must consider the child’s needs and individuality and ensure that the child receives the appropriate learning and support. The head of the school is required by law to ensure that pupils receive the necessary support. The teacher has the primary responsibility for the education of pupils with special needs.

To apply for a place in a nursery school or school, contact your local government’s education department or education specialist. Discuss your child’s specific health conditions to help select appropriate educational arrangements and find the best solutions in partnership with your home.

The local government must ensure that all children between one and a half and three years of age have the opportunity to attend a childcare institution, and that all children between three and seven years of age have the opportunity to attend a preschool. A place in a childcare institution or preschool is guaranteed at the location preferred by the parent or closest to their place of residence. In a group that includes a child with special needs, the number of children is smaller. If necessary, a child with special needs is provided with additional individual support within the group.

The local government will assign the school of place of residence to each child. You have the right to enrol your child in a school in their place of residence, where they can receive tailored education and the necessary support. However, you also have the right to enrol your child in a school other than the school of their place of residence if there are places available at the school of your choice. As a parent, you have the freedom to decide whether your child would be better off in a school close to home or elsewhere, for example, in a school exclusively for children with special needs.

The school can provide general support for each pupil, such as additional individual guidance, support from support specialists, or individual or group tutoring. The school may make changes or adaptations in the learning time, content, process, and environment.. In order to take into account the student’s individuality, an individual curriculum can be designed for the pupil.

The school must ensure that the support provided free of charge to the pupil includes at least the services of a special education teacher, speech therapist, psychologist and social pedagogue. These services are usually provided at the school. With the parent’s agreement, services may also be provided in another location.

If a pupil’s state of health does not allow them to attend school daily, or if a parent wishes to organise their child’s studies themselves, the child can be enrolled in home tuition.
Teaching in a hospital is provided for pupils who are hospitalised.

The Rajaleidjais a nationwide network that supports both the parent and the educational institution.

Contact the Rajaleidja if:

• your child’s problem has already been addressed at the nursery school or school, but you need further advice,
• you need a formal recommendation for the right educational arrangements for your child,
• you want an impartial assessment.

In addition to the parent, the Rajaleidja can also be contacted by a teacher, support specialist, head of school, local government employee or, if necessary, the child or young person themselves. Rajaleidja counselling is free of charge.

In the course of education counselling, Rajaleidja specialists identify obstacles to a child’s education and give advice to both parents and teachers on how to support the child’s development and coping abilities. Education counselling will also provide recommendations on what support services the child needs on a permanent basis. For many children, the advice given during education counselling is sufficient to support their development, and a formal recommendation from an external advisory team is not necessary.

A referral is not needed to apply for education counselling. You can access the educational counselling service through Rajaleidja's website, in Rajaleidja's application portal. When registering for a consultation, you must indicate the following:

• the child’s details (you need to know the child’s personal identification number),
• your contact details,
• in which city you would like to receive the consultation.

A recommendation from an external counselling team is needed when the general support provided by the preschool or school has not produced the desired results for the pupil's development, and more extensive adjustments than usual are needed in teaching and upbringing activities or schoolwork, for example, teaching a particular subject individually or in a smaller group. Such a recommendation is given by an external counselling team made up of three Rajaleidja support specialists.

Advisory teams can be found in the Rajaleidja centre of each county. The advisory team will assess your child’s coping with the education system and at home to make recommendations. To do this, the team will work with your child’s teachers, child protection officials, social workers, and physicians. The advisory team may ask you for additional documents and specialist assessments that you have regarding your child’s need for assistance.

To receive the official recommendation from the advisory team, you must submit an application to Rajaleidja. You can download the application form as both a PDF document and a Word document.

There are three ways to submit the application:

• Save the application form to your computer (ie, download it), fill it out, digitally sign it, and send it electronically to the email address [email protected]. PS! Do not fill out the application form online; instead, download it to your computer first!
• Save the application form to your computer (ie, download it), print it out, fill it in, sign it, and take it to your county’s Rajaleidja centre.
• Go to your county’s Rajaleidja centre, and the Rajaleidja employees will help you print, fill out, and sign the application.

Before submitting the application, make sure to attend an educational counselling session, as it may reveal whether and which application is necessary.

The advisory team can recommend the following to support the child’s development:

• The implementation of enhanced or special support.
• The reduction and replacement of learning outcomes specified in the national curriculum.
• Exemption from learning compulsory subjects.
• The implementation of simplified, coping and care education.
• The implementation of home tuition due to the health condition.
• Postponing the start of compulsory education (a preschool can also give this recommendation)
• Applying non-stationary study for a pupil subject to compulsory education.
• Implementation of the necessary conditions in a pre-school child care institution and admission to an integrated or special group.

Please note that an external advisory team must make a decision on your application within 30 working days of the date of the application.

The decision of the external advisory team is to be interpreted as a recommendation. If you agree with the decision and want to implement it, the recommendations of the advisory team contained in the decision are binding on the school and the school administrator.

The list of data to be submitted to the external advisory team for making a recommendation and the procedure for and conditions of submission of an application and making a recommendation by the external advisory team
The descriptions of the services of the support specialists and the procedure for the implementation of the service
The conditions of and procedure for studies at home and in hospital

Ministry of Education and Research
The Education and Youth Board

Ministry of Education and Research – Education Portal – Overview of education in Estonia
Ministry of Education and Research - Special educational needs
Education and Youth Board – Inclusive education
Riigiportaal - Students with special educational needs
Rajaleidja network