Good morning, everyone:

Today, according to this week’s topic, I wanted to tell you a little bit about education in Finland.

As you know, the Finnish education system is famous for being one of the best in the world.
Proof of this is the PISA report, in which Finland always remains in the best positions.

On the one hand, in Finland, the process of learning is based on the experiences of the students.
This means that, for instance, there are many out-of-school activities that seek to promote the
personal talents of each student.

On the other hand, it is important to know that Finnish children do not start school until they’re
seven years old. During the first years, students have the same teacher in every subject and they
don’t get numerical grades until the fifth year of school. This is how Finnish education avoids
promoting negative aspects such as competitiveness and comparisons.

But if there is something that clearly makes a difference between Finland and other countries
regarding education, that is the figure of the teacher. We, and especially us, college students,
are used to hear people put down students of education because it is said that their degree is
worthless and too easy.

In Finland, the picture is very different. The figure of the teacher is very respected by the Finnish
society. In fact, to be a teacher in Finland you need a grade of 9 out of 10 in your grade-point
average. Besides that, universities, to select their students of education, carry out several
interviews in which, apart from proving that you contribute to social activities, you have to
explain a lesson from the set of subjects, make a summary of a book, show your artistic skills,
pass a math test and prove that you know how to use the latest technologies. And that is only
to get into college.

After passing these tests, surely the toughest of the whole country, it is not surprising to know
that being a teacher in Finland is an honor.

To conclude, let me tell you that in Finland, education is free from primary school to college, and
it includes the school canteen service, books and other school materials.

Thank you so much for listening