The AI Leap education program will expand during the 2026/27 school year to include all upper secondary grade levels, lower secondary school teachers, and vocational upper secondary teachers and students. Teachers will gain access to AI tools, training, and learning materials, while the program will also support collaborative professional learning. During its first year, the program focused on students in grades 10 and 11 and teachers working in upper secondary education.
During the coming school year, AI Leap aims to reach approximately 18,000 vocational upper secondary students and 2,100 teachers, while also providing support to as many as 13,000 lower secondary school teachers.
“Vocational education requires us to take into account the specific characteristics of different fields of study and how instruction is organized, while lower secondary school teachers need support in developing their AI skills,” said Minister of Education and Research Kristina Kallas. “At the same time, AI must not replace teachers or learning. It must serve as a tool for providing better education.”
According to Ivo Visak, CEO of the AI Leap, one of the clearest signs of the program’s impact during its first year was that teachers began learning together more than before. Professional Learning Communities or other forms of collaboration were launched in roughly two-thirds of schools, giving teachers opportunities to discuss the use of AI, share good practices, and agree on how these tools should be used in teaching and learning.
“The most important change over the past year was that many schools began having broader discussions about homework, feedback, and assessment systems,” Visak said. “During the new school year, we will expand and further develop the first-year program while providing upper secondary school teachers with more in-depth support and practical materials.”
In lower secondary schools, AI Leap will begin by preparing teachers, as the use of AI is already widespread among younger students. The goal is to equip teachers with the knowledge and skills they need to guide students’ use of AI and prevent potential risks.
Licenses for the ITI student application will not be provided to lower secondary school students. Before making an AI-based learning application available to younger students, the program wants to better understand which uses support learning at this age and which may hinder it.
AI Leap will not initially provide AI tool licenses to teachers in grades 1–4, as suitable materials for the first stage of school are still being developed. However, general video training and learning materials will be available to all teachers.
During AI Leap’s inaugural year, 154 schools offering upper secondary education participated in the program, along with approximately 5,000 teachers and 20,000 students. According to a survey conducted at the end of the first school year, more than 90% of participating teachers used AI in their work, and 63% had redesigned their teaching methods as a result.
Teachers most frequently used AI to create learning materials and assignments at different levels of difficulty, prepare lessons, provide feedback, and reduce their administrative workload. On average, teachers estimated that AI saved them approximately two hours per week.
The University of Tartu is studying the impact of AI-assisted learning on students in collaboration with Stanford University and OpenAI. Approximately 100 Estonian upper secondary schools and more than 9,000 students are participating in the study. The first substantive findings are expected by the end of 2026.
AI Leap is an educational innovation program initiated by President Alar Karis and the Ministry of Education and Research. Its purpose is to support schools in the meaningful use of artificial intelligence and help teachers and students develop AI literacy. The program is being implemented through cooperation between the public and private sectors.