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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Sally Weale, education correspondent, in Estonia

‘It’s not just childcare’: focus on early years education sets Estonia apart

Children at the Viimsi kindergarten in Estonia
A classroom at the Viimsi kindergarten in Estonia, where the early years curriculum takes in everything from language skills to robotics. Photograph: Toms Kalniņš/EPA-EFE/The Guardian

At 7am, in the dark of an autumnal Estonian morning, parents begin to arrive to drop off their children at the kindergarten in Viimsi, a 20-minute drive from the capital, Tallinn, before heading off to work in the city.

The day starts officially at 9am, but Laanelinnu kindergarten, one of eight in the MLA Viimsi family of nurseries, opens two hours earlier and does not close until 7pm, to provide maximum flexibility for parents and the demands of their work.

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