In 1996, Estonia launched Tiigrihüpe (“the Tiger Leap”), a national plan that brought computer literacy to all schools in the country. Today, nearly thirty years later, the Baltic nation is preparing for a new leap: it’s called TI Hüpe (“the AI Leap”), and its goal is to integrate artificial intelligence into the national education system.
Starting in August 2025, with teacher training, and from September with the beginning of the school year, the project will involve 20,000 students aged 15 to 17 and 3,000 secondary school teachers. By 2027, TI Hüpe will be extended to vocational schools, reaching 58,000 students and 5,000 teachers. The aim is twofold: to enhance students’ digital and creative skills, and to reduce the administrative burden on teachers — for example, in lesson planning and automated assessment.
ChatGPT Edu: Don’t Ban, Educate
The program was initiated by Estonian President Alar Karis and is based on a direct collaboration with OpenAI, which will provide schools with a dedicated version of its virtual assistant: ChatGPT Edu. This tool, designed for education, will be integrated through customizable APIs to adapt to the needs of individual schools and teachers.
According to OpenAI, one in four Estonians has an active ChatGPT account, and the software is already widely used for writing, coding, and academic support.
While countries like France, the Netherlands, and Italy have chosen to ban smartphones in classrooms, Estonia is taking the opposite approach. According to Education and Research Minister Kristina Kallas, the government's role is not to prohibit, but to guide. “We need to teach students how to use these tools — not ignore them,” she said at an event in London.
In Estonia, 16-year-olds can already vote online, and most public services are fully digitalized. Banning technology in school would contradict the reality outside. The TI Hüpe guidelines instead aim to empower students, especially younger ones, by teaching critical, creative, and responsible use of AI.
Behind the Scenes: Who Created It and How It Will Be Implemented
President Alar Karis was the driving force behind the initiative. In December 2024, he convened a roundtable with the country’s top tech entrepreneurs to shape a shared vision of AI in education. The plan was officially announced during Karis’s Independence Day speech on February 24, 2025. Supporting the initiative are major figures in Estonia’s tech scene, such as Jaan Tallinn (co-founder of Skype), Kaarel Kotkas (Veriff), and Taavet Hinrikus (Wise), alongside the Presidential Digital Council and the Ministry of Education, led by Kristina Kallas.
The program will be co-funded by public and private sources — especially in its initial phase — and managed by an independent, non-political foundation, set to launch by August 2025. Meanwhile, the work has already begun: working groups made up of teachers, school leaders, researchers, technologists, students, and company representatives are defining the program’s content, training pathways, and the best tools to adopt in schools.
The Ministry of Education and Research is coordinating the effort across several fronts: from identifying the core AI skills every student should develop, to designing actual curricula, teaching materials, educational tools, and classroom activities.
The entire program will be experimental and adaptive. Rather than being a rigid, top-down model, it will evolve over time through feedback from the school community and international partners. The goal is not simply to introduce AI once and for all, but to learn how to learn it — understanding its potential and limits, and gradually building a culture of conscious and creative use of these technologies.
Teacher training will begin in autumn 2025 and will provide a comprehensive overview of how to use AI in teaching, with tools and methods designed to make learning more personalized, inclusive, and effective. The aim is not to replace teachers, but to empower them with solutions that lighten administrative tasks, enhance engagement with students, and allow lessons to be tailored to individual needs. Students, in turn, will have access to the best AI-powered educational applications in a learning environment that fosters curiosity, critical thinking, and creativity.
Ultimately, AI Leap is an investment not just in schools, but in Estonia’s future, with the declared goal of making it one of the world’s most advanced and AI-literate nations.
Concerns and Criticisms
One of the most discussed issues around introducing AI in schools is the potential negative impact on learning. It’s a valid concern: without guidance, students could over-rely on automation, missing opportunities for critical thinking or copying answers they don’t understand.
That’s exactly why Estonia is taking action. As the promoters of TI Hüpe emphasize, students are already using AI tools — and not introducing them within a structured, educational framework would mean leaving them on their own, without guidance or quality standards. AI Leap aims to channel these technologies toward more effective, equitable, and personalized learning.
Another common criticism relates to excessive screen time. It’s true that many kids already spend too much time in front of devices. But AI Leap doesn’t aim to increase screen use-only to improve its quality. AI tools won’t be used for entertainment but for study, creativity, planning, writing, and critical discussion.
There’s also a key issue of social equity: while many teenagers in Estonia already have access to tools like ChatGPT, not all can afford them or use them proficiently. Providing free and guided access to AI at the national level helps bridge the digital divide, ensuring everyone, regardless of economic background, can learn both with and about artificial intelligence.
In this sense, Estonia positions itself as a global trailblazer. No other country has launched such a wide-reaching, national-scale AI education initiative. Other pilots exist, but they are often limited to individual schools or regions. Estonia, instead, is pursuing a system-wide, fast-paced transformation, in line with its long-standing digital leadership.
The program’s backers admit they don’t have all the answers from the start — it’s a collective experiment from which to learn, adapt, and improve. They’re also ready to share their results and insights with the rest of the world, hoping AI Leap will inspire similar initiatives elsewhere.
What do you think?
Should artificial intelligence be introduced into schools in Italy or other countries too? Is it right to teach students how to use it — or should its use be limited?
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