Linking school grades to pocket money would trigger shrieks of protest in homes across Wales but it’s a common practice in a tiny country whose students enjoy phenomenal success in international tests.

Estonia is a country less than half the size of Wales, in terms of population, but its children enjoy some of the top marks in the world when it comes to reading, maths and science.

The population of 1.3 million are proud that their nation is the birthplace of Skype, the internet start-up which has changed the way the world makes long-distance calls.

Estonians are ambitious for the future and understand their prosperity depends on how they nurture their most precious natural resource – their children.

It's not just the Christmas lights that sparkle in Tallinn, so do the skills stats

Last week parents and teachers across Wales felt queasy when the looked at the latest education rankings from the OECD.

Welsh children were not just outperformed by their peers in Northern Ireland, Scotland and England, they came behind scores of their international counterparts.

But Estonia shows how a small country that only broke free from the Soviet Union in 1991 can give its children an extraordinary start in life.

It had the third best score in science in the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) table, just behind the academic powerhouses of Japan and Singapore. In reading it reached sixth place and it finished ninth for maths.

In contrast, Wales was ranked 35 in science, 40 in reading and 39 in maths despite years of effort to climb up the rankings.

Elo Madissoon, a PhD holder who is now at Cambridge's Sanger Institute

Elo Madissoon is one of Estonia’s academic success stories. The 30-year-old is now doing postdoctoral work in genetics at Cambridge’s Sanger Institute.

She admits she is “very happy” to see her country perform so well in the rankings, but thought Estonians are too modest to boast of their nation’s achievement.

“They wouldn’t be going, like, ‘Oh yeah! We’re good and we knew we’re good.’ That’s not a very Estonian trait,” she said. “But I can’t think they’re surprised.

“If you look at previous Pisa results, Estonia has always been very high scoring.”

The market at Raekoja Plats in Tallinn, where old-world charm meets a very modern commitment to the digital economy

It is not just teachers and Government ministers who have high ambitions for the country’s children. Parents are also determined their sons and daughters will excel.

She said: “Good results are expected from kids... Families really favour that and they expect schools to give a good education...

“People honour school and when you see that kind of attitude from your parents as a child you will adopt that and will also respect school and the teachers. This is really strong from the families.”

The schoolroom is a serious place in Estonia and it is not a top priority for children to have fun in class.

Ms Madissoon said: “That’s maybe a relic from Soviet times but the students have to learn and the learning is not fun always... For myself as a child, I would say that almost nobody really liked going to school [but] it was kind of inevitable...

“You’re expected to go and try and do your best, even though you’re not enjoying it.”

Many children have a financial incentive to do well. Grades are often linked to pocket money and presents.

Meelika Lehola, who studied in Wales and is now preparing to launch her own start-up

Meelika Lehola, a 26-year-old Estonian photographer and filmmaker who studied at Aberystwyth University and is launching her own start-up – a jobs portal for freelancers – laughs fondly as she remembers how her mother encouraged her to study.

She recalled: “I rarely had bad grades but when I did she [said], ‘Well, next month you won’t get any money.’ But it wasn’t that bad; I had always good grades in school.”

Ms Lehola would usually spend “four or five hours a day at least” on homework.

“In Estonia I remember I was always tired,” she said. “I was like learning, learning, learning.”

It is not just parents who refuse to tolerate poor marks. Teachers are also determined students raise their game.

“If you get a bad grade then they won’t stop until it’s good,” she said.

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Tallinn. According to the 2000 census, at least 15.3% of the population are first-language Russian speakers

Looking back on her schooldays, she reckons that she developed work habits that have shaped her life.

She said: “If I’d been from somewhere else I think maybe I wouldn’t have this work ethic... My parents and my teachers were always pushing me to have a better life.”

Estonia will not reach its potential if only an elite thrive. Not only is there free university education, with allowances for poorer students, all pupils also receive a free hot meal at school.

Mart Laidmets, a Deputy Secretary General at Estonia’s education ministry, explained the thinking behind the policy.

“The cost is not so high,” he said. “It’s better to offer this free lunch for everybody...

“Maybe it’s the only warm meal of the day... At school, all of them must feel that they are equal.”

Mart Laidmets, Estonia's Deputy Secretary General for General and Vocational Education

He admits that children may do an average of 17 hours a week of homework but says they also take part in extracurricular activities such as choir and sports before enjoying their “computer games or YouTube and Facebook”.

Mr Laidmets notes that teachers usually have a Master’s degree and in Estonian society education is seen as a key springboard for improving your life.

“It is still quite easy to move upwards in society when you have a very good education,” he said.

There is a carefully structured curriculum, even at the pre-school stage, and a conviction that children from less well-off backgrounds can perform well if given the support they need.

“The school can actually help those students to get the best results,” he insisted.

The Pisa tests are taken very seriously. Good results, he argues, allow people to have confidence in the schools system and in their own abilities.

He said: “It is very important. With Pisa tests, it’s not just another test.

“It measures how you will manage in a future society. If kids do this test really well, if they have this basic knowledge, [then] of course it’s easier for them and we can trust the school system and they can trust themselves also...

“They know they will manage in their life.”

The country is not an educational utopia. A key challenge is ensuring that both Estonian and Russian-speaking children do well.

The OECD noted that a decade ago “the average science, reading and mathematics scores of students in Russian-language schools were significantly lower than those of students in Estonian-language schools”.

It also claimed that teachers had “low social status” and this made it “difficult to attract high-quality candidates”. There has since been a hike in teachers’ salaries and new efforts to ensure equality in education.

Does Estonia show a way forward for Welsh schools?

One reason why Estonia has such a focus on the future may be that it cherishes its independence. Memories of both the decades of Soviet occupation and the “Singing Revolution” are fresh in the minds of citizens. For five nights in June 1988, 100,000 people gathered to sing patriotic songs until daybreak.

Such peaceful demonstrations galvanised support for independence and the country won its freedom in 1991 and sought security in international alliances, joining Nato and the European Union in 2004.

Today, Estonians want the best for their country and their children.

As Ms Madissoon put it: “People want to have a better and greater future.”

But there is at least one cloud on the horizon for Estonians who see their country’s membership of the European Union as a source of strength. It has not escaped their attention that a majority in one of the 28 member states has voted for Brexit.

Mr Laidmets said: “We are not so very happy about it. Our very good friends are going to leave us.

“It’s a little bit sad.”