The Estonian school system comprises of a non-compulsory kindergarten (ages 1.5-7), the compulsory basic school (years 1-9) and the non-compulsory upper secondary school, called “gymnasium” or “secondary school” (years 10-12). While gymnasiums primarily prepare students for higher education, vocational schools offer a practical alternative education for students after either basic school or gymnasium. Depending on the programme, vocational education can simultaneously offer secondary education or even be geared towards students without basic education. Practical training at a workplace is also one form of vocational education. The general education is offered in primary schools (years 1-6), basic schools (years 1-9) or gymnasiums (years 10-12). However, the most common type of school in Estonia is a full-cycle gymnasium with years 1-12 where students are aged 7-19. In the period 2005-2008, Ida-Virumaa was one of the most problematic regions in the country for dropouts at years 7-10 (IVEK, 2009, 31). In 2005, 46% of the national dropouts came from Ida-Virumaa. Although the rate fell in 2008 to 27% it was still higher than the national average. In 2008, there were 36 students dropping out from the Ida-Virumaa county, from a national total of 131 students. However, the situation has much improved since then. Nationally, the dropout rate from basic schools was 0.5% (ca 150-200 students) in 2014 and 1.1% from gymnasiums. The highest drop-out rate in 2014 was in vocational education with 25.6% (Ministry of Education and Research, 2015, 17). In comparison, the percentage of students who did not continue their education after basic school was in 2015 slightly higher in Jõgevamaa (5%) than in Ida-Virumaa (3%) (HaridusSilm, 2015). Jõgeva is a small town with 5,418 habitants and three schools: Jõgeva Basic School (years 1-9), Jõgevamaa Gymnasium (years 10-12) and the Adult Secondary School (years 8-12). Jõgevamaa is not the poorest region of Estonia, but in comparison with the 15 counties, Jõgevamaa county has one of the lowest average salaries in the country: 800-845 Euros gross salary per month in 2015, versus 1,185 euros in Tallinn (Statistics Estonia 2016). Jõgevamaa county ranks fourth from the lowest based on the relative poverty index (31% of the population), and first based on absolute poverty (12%), with the biggest percentage of people living in deep poverty. Single parents are at the greatest poverty risk, followed by single persons, mainly elderly, and families with many children (Statistics Estonia 2014). The unemployment rate in Jõgevamaa county is not high, (approximately 7%) but the participation rate in employment market is below the national average (Statistics Estonia 2016, p. 17). Jõgevamaa Gymnasium is located close to the town centre in a recently renovated school building. It is one of the three upper secondary schools in the county and the only one that specialises in upper secondary education (forms 10-12). The school has students from other parts of the county as well as neighbouring counties. The county of Jõgevamaa is certainly representative of other relatively disadvantaged regions. While the population of Jõgeva have income from various sources such as retailing, service and lumber industry, Kiviõli is predominantly a mining town in the North-East of Estonia, also with less than 6,000 habitants. As part of the Ida-Virumaa county, it is the most socially deprived area in Estonia. The local population are heavily dependent on the oil shale mining and chemical industry represented by three companies: Kiviõli Keemiatööstus, Viru Keemiagrupp and Eesti Energia. Due to the low oil prices on the global market, these companies have recently laid off hundreds of workers. There is also a high concentration of people with a migrant/minority background, since 62% of the population in the county of Ida-Virumaa are not ethnic Estonians. Most of them came in from the 1960s onwards from Russia and other former USSR countries to work in Ida- Virumaa as industrial workers. The unemployment rate of Ida-Virumaa was the highest in the country at 13.3% in 2013-2015 while the average salary was at the same level as in most counties outside of the two largest towns, Tallinn and Tartu, ranging 850-919 euros per month (Statistics Estonia, 2016). Within the town limits of Kiviõli is located one of the largest artificial hills composed of the waste of oil shale processing and now being used as an adventure park, winter sports centre and motocross track. There are two schools in Kiviõli: Kiviõli Russian School (years 1-9) and the Estonian speaking Kiviõli I Secondary School (years 1-12) which is a 20-minute walk from the city centre.
