Behind the Story: Estonia's different approach to AI in education

RTÉ News​

09-06-2025

One of the emerging concerns in education in recent times has been AI, particularly when it comes to assignment work and plagiarism.
Spotting it is becoming increasingly difficult, according to many academics, while in secondary schools in Ireland, there are anecdotal reports from teachers about its misuse.
As this technology develops, it will only get more difficult for those whose job it is to spot it in assignments.
Last weekend, the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland voted to reject proposals aimed at reforming the Leaving Cert.
The main concern for the majority of ASTI members was a lack of resources and capacity, according to General Secretary Kieran Christie.
But another area of concern was project work and practicals that will be worth a minimum of 40% of a student's grade.
The fear is that students could use AI for such projects, and it's not clear how that can be addressed.
The Department of Education is finalising guidelines on the use of artificial intelligence in schools.
It says this guidance will focus on AI in teaching and learning, and will come in addition to the Examinations Commission's advice on the technology when it comes to the Leaving and Junior Certificate.
Ultimately, decisions on how it may or may not be used in Irish schools will come down to the Boards of Management at each one.
But while Ireland grapples with how to police AI in the classroom, another EU nation is embracing it – and it's one of the continent's top performing places when it comes to learning.
According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation's (OECD) PISA tests, which examine education outcomes in 79 countries, Estonian students are top in Europe in math and science.
They are also second in the EU when it comes to reading, only behind Ireland.
From September, the country will roll out licences for artificial intelligence platforms to students aged 16 and 17, as well as teachers.
The technology will be integrated into the learning process for all subjects, including physical education.
Speaking to RTÉ's Behind the Story podcast, the country's education minister Krisinta Kallas said that AI is here to stay and that the country wants to harness it rather than discourage it.
"We are worried that if we don't do anything, and if we don't do more supervised learning with AI, there will be a lot of unsupervised learning with AI anyway and that would be at the detriment of the skills and competences of the children."
Ms Kallas said that it will be up to the teachers to determine how exactly it will be used.
"I think the crucial thing with AI is not so much of regulating its use, because I don't think you can 100% regulate it, but it is rather making teachers competent in how AI operates, how AI impacts learning, and how it can be used to enhance the learning.
"So the training of the teachers is absolutely key. You should not put all your trust in technology, you should put all your trust on teachers."
The children will use tablets in school, but can use their AI accounts on their own private devices at home too.
It is hoped that by giving it to all students and schools, there will be equality in its use in education with no socio-economic gaps.
There has been no public pushback on the plan according to Ms Kallas.
"It might be because our education has been relatively digitalised for a very long time.
"We introduced the first digital tools into our education system 25 years ago, so there is a whole parents' generation who has grown up by using digital technology in schools so it hasn't really been an issue.
"So the debate is mostly about how to use AI and what kind of learning it should enhance, and what would happen if we don't use it because maybe there is much more fear of missing out on learning skills if we don't do a nationally - organised programme on AI introduction.
"If we just allow to go in a natural way as it is today, then students are using it for replacing their own learning rather than learning with an AI and that's a much bigger risk than trying to introduce AI in a more supervised and controlled way with teachers."
"In that reality we need to redesign the whole learning process – what kind of assignments we give to students and what kind of learning we want to happen, and how the AI will be used by the students to enhance this learning."
Mobile phones
Unlike other countries in Europe, Estonia supports the use of mobile phones in schools. But Ms Kallas said teachers ultimately take autonomy in decisions when it comes to them.
"We believe in a bottom-up approach when we allow schools to make those regulations," she said.
"Mobile phones are used in class for learning purposes quite a lot in Estonia.
"And also mobile phones in Estonia are used for all other things that you do in life.
"The child needs to get the bus schedule to get home, needs to contact their parents, needs to figure out how to get to the sports club after school.
"We do voting and other activities as citizens through our mobile phones.
"It would be confusing for the younger generation that on one side we want them to vote online and use their phones to do their civic duty and on the other side we ban them from the school.
"What we need to do is make them learn how to use the mobile phone for the right purposes."