Full interview with Jaak Aaviksoo, former education minister of Estonia

Professor Jaak Aaviksoo, is the Rector of the University of Tartu in Estonia. He was Minister of Education of Estonia between 1995 and 1997 and has been a member of the European University Association board since 2001. Read the .

What advantages do you expect from enlargement for education in Estonia?

We are not looking for advantages - we rather look forward to new challenges and opportunities. As a small country with only 1.4 million people we are proud of having our own Estonian-speaking university but we are looking forward to the new educational opportunities that are opening up all over Europe. This also means competition but this makes us only stronger.

What is the favourite destination of Estonian students when they study abroad? What are the languages they speak the most? How many languages do they speak in average?

We have our natural and historical partners - Finland, Sweden and Germany, increasingly also US as well as UK and France. Finnish and Estonian are close - both belong to the Finno-Ugric group of languages apart from all the Indo-European languages like English, German, French and Russian. But English, of course is a must in today's Estonia. One more foreign language is needed of course and German, Russian and French are the most popular. I keep thinking of my grand-grandparents who, 100 years ago with only 4-6 years in school, had to manage "the three local languages of Estonia" - Estonian, German and Russian. The young Estonians are not less international - Estonian, English and a third European language is becoming a rule.

How are the Bologna reforms to set up a European higher education area perceived in Estonia? Are Estonian degrees already based on the two-tier degree structure (bachelor-master)?

Estonia has been active in adjusting its Higher Education system to the European trends including what we call the Bologna Process. We have our bachelor-master-doctor ladder in place but it takes some time, as also in other countries, to reach a real common framework that not only formally but also in its core constitutes the European Higher Education Area.

Within a few years, Estonia has become the most intensely wired country in the world and all schools benefit from broadband internet access. How did that happen? What result does it bring on Estonians' level of qualification? Has it led to a significant increase of Estonia's competitiveness?

Yes, we have understood that ICT is crucial not only as a technology but also as a culture. As the minister for education in the middle of the 90-ies I launched the national computerization program called the Tiger Leap, which effectively wired our schools. I believe, as do many of my compatriots, that the future lies with the people who are active in the global information space. It has proved to be true. I am glad that Estonians are involved in global brands such as Kazaa and Skype.

What is the penetration of eLearning in Estonia?

It's very hard to tell. eLearning is a big business where numbers count and we are not a country of big numbers. But we are present, there is an Estonian e-University web site and a growing number of students make use of it. I guess we have every two out of three students making some use of eLearning.

As the EU 15 offers more attractive salaries than the new Member States, is the fear of a 'brain drain' from Eastern and Central Europe to the EU a real probability?

Yes, it is. But we have to think positively! Let our young (and not so young) academics go and get a flavour of the outside world. The history is not over tomorrow. Let us look forward 10-20 years and be prepared to have them back over time. If we are good at that we are doing a good service to our motivated academics, to our universities and our people alike.

Has enlargement on 1 May 2004 generated a particular atmosphere in Estonia? How does the studen t community react to this historical moment?

Thinking back 20 years or so when my generation rather dreamed of than thought about EU membership the present atmosphere may seem even disappointing. But I think our students feel themselves as true Europeans already since their school years. For them it may rather seem as a formality. However, in Tartu we have student spring festival every end of April culminating in the night of May 1st. This year it was historical - in the morning we woke up in the EU!