AI challenges humanity to develop higher cognitive skills, says Estonian minister

Kristina Kallas says children can only benefit from digitised learning materials

Kristina Kallas, Estonia's Minister of Education and Research, believes teachers must be given more autonomy. Photo: Ministry of Education and Research of Estonia

Humanity's new challenge is to develop higher cognitive skills to compete with artificial intelligence, an Estonian minister has said.

Kristina Kallas, Estonia's Minister of Education and Research, said schools need to prepare children's cognitive skills for jobs that don't yet exist.

In an exclusive interview with The National, Ms Kallas spoke of the need to develop critical thinking as AI was pushing humans to evolve.

"If we want to live together with AI, we need to evolve and develop our higher cognitive skills," she said.

Technology is an enhancer. It's a tool, not a learning process in itself

Kristina Kallas,
Estonia's Minister of Education and Research

"What that means is that for our children and future generations, in terms of cognitive capacities of understanding, interpreting, analysing the world, and communicating with the world, they will be at a much higher level than our grandparents were.

"AI is pushing us there and we have to evolve. This is human evolution that needs to take place with our skills and our competence levels."

Ms Kallas said it was imperative to give teachers autonomy over making decisions in the classroom.

Preparing for unknown careers

Estonia made the top 10 in the world PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) rankings, an international evaluation of 15 year olds' proficiency in reading, maths and science.

It was also the highest-ranking European nation in maths and science in the latest Pisa rankings published in December.

"Schools need to prepare children's cognitive skills for the jobs that don't exist yet," she said.

"School curricula also need to describe those higher cognitive skills that children need to develop such as analytical, critical thinking, systematic thinking and communication skills, ethics, teamwork, multiculturalism and adjusting to different environments."

From Estonia to the Emirates

The minister spoke of her hope of bringing the Estonian model of schooling to the UAE, as well as transferring the teaching principles of her country to other nations.

She said: "We would definitely be interested in having a pilot school in the UAE to see whether this would work in a different cultural model in terms of digitisation."

At Gitex 2023, the Middle East's largest technology conference, Ms Kallas spoke about her country's education system during a visit to the UAE in October.

The minister said she will be returning in February to discuss further opportunities in education.

Kristina Kallas, Estonia's Education Minister, spoke about her country's education system at Gitex 2023 in October. Photo: Gitex Global

Ms Kallas said the competence levels Estonia has set for children in different age categories was higher than many other nations.

"We have this mindset in education, which is to aim high and work hard," she said. "We have very ambitious curricula concerning the same in maths and science.

"For that, you need very professional teachers who have high qualification requirements for the job, which we have in Estonia.

"They need to be motivated to work with each student."

Ms Kallas said teachers must have autonomy so they can make decisions over how they educate, what methods they use, how they arrange the working week, as well as arrange the process of teaching at the school.

Estonia lays great emphasis on teachers having professional autonomy, while schools promote equity and do not segregate children.

Only 8 per cent of schools in the country are private and the average class size is 21.

Compulsory education begins at the age of seven.

Only 8 per cent of Estonian schools are private and the average class size is 21. Photo: Raimo Roht, Ministry of Education and Research of Estonia

In Estonian kindergartens, children are encouraged to develop cognitive as well as academic skills.

Ms Kallas said the Estonian concept was to ensure young children understand and are capable of explaining the world, and develop general social skills.

Digitising education

Estonia is the world's most digitally advanced society and since 2020, schools have been able to provide general education using only digital learning materials.

But digitising education is not simply about handing a child a gadget, she said.

"It's not about gadgets or giving children iPads," Ms Kallas said. "It's about developing new learning processes with the help of technology.

"Technology is an enhancer. It's a tool, not a learning process in itself."

She said children learn different skills when they use technology compared to when they do not use it.

"In order for a child to learn those new cognitive and academic skills through technology, teachers need to be competent and the digital competencies of those teachers are crucial."

Ms Kallas said when education systems adopt technology, they need to change the way pupils are assessed, the way in which they are taught and the way in which feedback is given.