Cultural figures and intellectuals living in the Matsalu National Park turned to President Alar Karis and Prime Minister Kaja Kallas with an open letter to protect Metsküla and other small schools in Estonia.
The signatories propose to protect viable rural schools. The number of children at the Metsküla school with 21 students is not decreasing, but increasing – the school has exactly the same number of children as it did 20 years ago. The parents are satisfied with the school, the children successively win county and all-Estonian Olympiads. Despite this, the school is threatened with closure. The corresponding bill has been drawn up and will be on the council’s table next Friday. Among other things, the signatories propose to the president, the prime minister, the Riigikogu and the Estonian government that the decisions to close rural schools should not only be in the hands of local governments affected by political winds, but the Ministry of Education and Science should also keep an eye on it.
