Good practice:

The cyber defence field of study at Põltsamaa Coeducational Gymnasium (Põltsamaa Ühisgümnaasium)

Tackling the issues of lack of specialisation and talent are among the goals of this project.

The objectives of this curriculum are teaching threats in cyberspace. Students are given the introduction to practical experiences in the cyber security field and are taught various cyber-crime prevention skills. Outside the school, students themselves inform their community on basic cyber security. The curriculum, in addition to other technical courses, consists of four large courses related to cyber: information society, information technology, digital security and cryptography and introduction to mechatronics.

The students have the opportunity to frequently visit governmental agencies and companies that operate in the area of cyber security, as well as welcoming guest lecturers from these partners at the Põltsamaa Coeducational Gymnasium. There is a continuous exchange of information between the partners, as well as opportunities for mentorship programmes.
After successfully finishing those four courses students should be able to spot the most frequently used types of attacks and know how to deal with them, how to protect devices, and understand cryptography, and the use of basic cryptography tools in everyday internet activities.

The project is financed from the general budget of the school and by private donators. For the period of 2017-2020, there is a sum of 19302.58€ foreseen from the European Regional Development Fund and from the Estonian government. Budget for one class per year is approximately 8500€.

Drop-out rate nearly zero. 20% of the students who enrolled are outside of the county. Large array of influential partners, ie. Estonian Atlantic Treaty Association, Estonian Information System Authority, NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, the e-Estonia Showroom. The Estonian Ministry of Education and Research chose this project as the “Deed of the Year in Education” in 2016. The project was chosen from 18 countries as the winner of European Crime Prevention Award 2018.

As the school is in a small town in the centre of Estonia, attracting teachers has been a challenge. Due to the ever-changing field of cyber security, training of teachers requires substantial resources. The number of girls has been growing over the years.

Many schools in Europe have classes focusing on technical IT-skills. It would take a moderate effort to narrow down the scope of those classes in cyber security. However, if technical materials can be acquired without major issues, attracting competent teachers could prove problematic. Creating strong partnerships with government agencies and private companies is one of the primary assets of the success of this project – achievement of this in another EU state depends on the openness of cybersecurity actors in the public and private sector to share knowledge and experience with schools.