The Defense Resources Agency began this year with a so‑called national defense year project, with which it wishes to bring national‑defense‑related instruction also into the 8th grades of basic school.

At present, national defense instruction is compulsory in high school. The head of the Defense Resources Agency's national defense education bureau, Aare Jamnes, said that in eighth grade it may not be a separate subject. "Basically, in every subject there is something that can be used in national defense or discussed from national defense," he said.

Jamnes said that this school year 23 schools expressed interest in the national defense year, and in the coming years it is hoped that the number of interested schools will keep growing. The goal, however, is that all Estonian schools would implement integrated national defense instruction in eighth grades.

The programme of these roughly 23 schools' eighth grades includes, among other things, national‑defense‑themed quizzes, excursions to Defense Forces units, and also shooting instruction with air guns.

Jamnes noted that in this way Estonia can get more good shooting athletes, but at the same time young people would be somewhat earlier ready also for national defense.

He explained that there are two different ways to organize shooting in schools. One possibility is when the school itself is active and expresses the wish that they would have such an opportunity. For such schools, the state also offers separate shooting‑trainer instruction.

"The other possibility is that when a physical education teacher wishes to go with their group somewhere to a shooting range. Let's take, for example, Elva school, which contacts the sports center, goes a couple of kilometers from the school to the shooting range, there are trainers, equipment, and shooting is done in a safe environment," Jamnes explained.

Jamnes said that in the case of air pistols it would be entirely feasible also for schools to have a separate shooting range. "A safe shooting lane for an air pistol can be set up in any sports hall. Even now there are still very many schools where shooting ranges are in working order or repairable," he said.

Teenage years are turbulent and young people also have more and more mental health problems. Jamnes said that giving young people an air gun, however, rather reduces any danger situations connected with shooting.

"The more physically active young people are and the more they do joint activities with others, learn and gain new experiences, the more anxiety and various mental problems come down. They are not so withdrawn and they have more opportunities to do things together. I find that this does not increase danger situations, but rather in the broad picture does only good for the mental side, when young people can do sports together and learn new things," he said.

And ultimately shooting an air gun is not compulsory for young people. That is, whoever does not wish to, does not have to shoot, Jamnes noted. "If a young person does not wish it or parents do not wish that their child would get experience in a shooting range, then of course no one is forced," he said.

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