Education Today
In the county there are 29 general education schools, 7 of which are upper secondary schools, 12 basic schools, 2 primary schools, 1 nursery-basic school and 7 nursery-primary schools, alwith five and a half thousand students. The biggest school in the county is Kohila Secondary School with over 800 students. The Eduard Vilde Juuru Secondary School helps to value the spirit of Mahtra War organising every year a creative competition on the theme of Eduar Vilde's stories. County schools offer communities plenty of opportunities for satisfying training, cultural, information, sports and social needs. A good example here is Hagudi Education Centre which houses a basic school, a nursery, a library, an open internet access, a culture house and a gym. Schools, folk houses, libraries, clubs and training companies offer adult students a wide range of different training events. One-third of the schools have acquired experience in international communication through Comenius programme, most of the schools have formed friendships with foreign schools.
Of the 550 teachers in the municipal schools of the county, every sixth-seventh is male. The average age of teachers is 45 years. Every seventh teacher is under 30 years of age, half of the teachers are aged 31-50, one-fourth of the teachers are aged 51-60 and every seventh teacher is older than 60 years. Seven teachers out of ten have a teaching degree, one junior and one senior teaching degree. Every 30th teacher has a teaching/methodology degree. So far every 20th teacher is still without proper qualification.
More than 200 adult students acquire their basic or secondary education in Rapla Adult Secondary School. A quality vocational training is offered to graduates of basic school and upper secondary school by Kehtna School of Economics and Technology and Vana-Vigala School of Technology and Services. Both Kehtna and Vigala vocational schools are comparable in size – in both schools there are almost 40 teachers and more than 500 students. In Kehtna, it is possible to study land-surveying (the only place in the country), IT, car and machine repair, construction and food service. In Vana-Vigala, it is possible to study blacksmithing and stonecutting (the only place in the country), car servicing, woodworking, IT, cookery, home and property management and nature tourism. In Vana-Vigala conditions have been created for the vocational education of those who have graduated from basic school on the basis of simplified study programme. Those with discontinued basic education may acquire basic education with pre-vocational training with the support of strengthened rules of school.
Most researchers in the field of special needs education in Estonia have worked in the first school for children with special needs opened in Raikküla in 1958. In Raikküla School today good possibilities have been created for basic education for more than a hundred students with special needs. The graduates from this school are able to continue successfully in vocational training in Vana-Vigala School of Technology and Services as well as elsewhere. Three comfortable and modern student dormitories have been built in the county – in Järvakandi, Eidapere and Vana-Vigala.
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